Hyderabad: Move to hike engineering fees draws flak from staff, student bodies

Hyderabad: The State government proposes a fee hike for B.Tech seats to meet the maintenance of laboratories, annual increments and further developments.

The State Technical and Professional Institutes Employees' Association (TPIEA) and some student organisations have expressed their concern over the government's decision to hike the fee. Calling the government decision 'arbitrary', TPIEA founder- president Dr. V Balakrishna Reddy said, "Soon there will be self-financed seats in government colleges, as the government has decided to increase the fee.

Without providing quality education increasing fee is not correct decision." He lamented that in the State even today quality education was not being provided to students. "Moreover, soon getting an engineering degree will be unaffordable to both middle-class people and the poor.

This step is being taken against the poor. Earlier, in the State B-category seats were sold. There is no single notification released by the government against the colleges.

Reddy claimed that the Education department or the concerned authorities have not responded on this issue of selling B-category seats, forcing us to think that the government is involved in this and encouraging selling of B.Tech seats.

"We along with various students' organisations have filed a complaint with the authorities and demanded to reduce the fee of BTech in the State," said Reddy.

The members of the engineering students organisation said that this will be a burden on each of the students, whoever is willing to study B.Tech would have to think twice that he or she has that much amount money.

They also said that the fee hike was unjust and many poor students are not in a position to pay.They demanded a rollback of the fee hike