Students fume as AICTE allows colleges to collect fee during Covid-19

Hyderabad: The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the apex technical education regulator, off late, has been receiving complaints from the students and their parents against the colleges approved by the AICTE, alleging that the institutions were collecting fee for the services not rendered during the Covid lockdown period. The services among others charged included hostel fee, mess charges, transport fee etc.

However, the AICTE response to the complaints has been irking the parents, students and senior officials of the varsities to which the AICTE approved institutions are affiliated.

Speaking to The Hans India, senior officials from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University at Hyderabad and at Anantapur, said, "The affiliating universities do not have much power to interfere in the financial affairs of the AICTE-approved colleges. Moreover, we are not able to take any concrete action against the private unaided colleges when the faculty lodged complaints about non-payment of salaries and for charging fee from the students for the services not rendered during the lockdown period."

They added that, however, if the AICTE gives a clear direction towards payment of salaries to the faculty and against the fee, then the universities can act upon the same and ask the colleges to comply with the AICTE norms.

A senior official from the JNTU-Hyderabad said, "The AICTE has recently issued a circular to the institutions under it on the issue of collection of fee. But, it confuses everyone. Because the circular comes in the form of instructions/advise to the AICTE-approved institutions/colleges for charging fee during the lockdown/unlock period of Covid pandemic."

With regard to complaints, he added that AICTE has advised the institutions to charge only for maintenance of mess and transport. However, the AICTE allowing its approved institutions to collect maintenance charges is not going down well with the parents and the students.

"Further, the AICTE strictly advised the colleges to charge only the fee commensurate with the facilities that the colleges are providing during the pandemic," he said.

"Everything was shut down. There were no classes and any other activity in the university or its affiliated colleges since March. Then, what is there for the private colleges to charge?" asked a JNTU-Anantapur official.

If the circular is a direction and instruction, then, even the affiliating university can take action. But, if the circular comes in the form of an instruction or advisory, the private colleges can take it only as an advisory. Now, any further action on the issue has to come from only the AICTE, the JNTU officials clarified.