Silchar NIT students along with other NITs demands reduction of Tuition fees amid Corona Pandemic

Seeking reduction of tuition fees for the upcoming semester, Silchar NIT students along with 32 other NITs yesterday trended #ReduceNITtuitionfees on Twitter.

Students alleged that amid Corona Pandemic, when the financial income of many families hit hard, authorities have turned blind eye to the sufferings of students.

“All NITs charge a common tuition fee amount of ₹62,500 per semester, per student under Section 32 (2) (b) of National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research Act, 2007 and 37(i) of the First Statutes. But the upcoming semester is to be conducted online and many of the students whose annual family income is between 1-5 lakhs or more than 5 lakhs will find it very difficult to make such a hefty payment due to the ongoing Covid19 pandemic coupled with the worse conditions of the floods in Assam and Bihar” said a student of NIT Silchar on condition of anonymity.

Students trended hashtags like #ReduceReimburse and #ReduceNITtuitionfees to grab the attention of the national media along with authorities. Around 17000 tweets were posted under the hashtags.

“We contacted our director sir, but he denied any reduction, in this case, saying tuition fees are fixed by the ministry. So all the NITs unitedly decided to tweet our demand to HRD ministry,” said another student, adding NITs are also charging other miscellaneous fees like Cable TV fee, Library fee, etc despite the semester to be online and all the students will be at their respective house. “Why should we pay cable TV fee. We are not going to watch it at the hostel,” the student asked.

Students also cited the example of Assam where the education department has made admission to colleges and universities absolutely free. “If Assam can, why NITs can’t” opined a student.

When contacted the Director of NIT Silchar, Prof Sivaji Bandhopadhyay said that the power to reduce the tuition fee is not in their hands and they can’t do anything locally. “Even if we understand the situation we cannot do anything as fees are fixed by the Union Ministry. We have conveyed this to our students also,” the director said.

Asking whether the college will forward the demands of students to the ministry, the director mentioned “This should be done by the students only, similar to the way they are approaching us. They should flag their concerns to the union level. Hope thereafter a positive decision will be taken accessing all ground realities.”