Pune: Students across Maharashtra may have to bear a higher financial burden with the Fee Regulating Authority (FRA) approving hikes for 1,272 unaided professional colleges of engineering, medical, pharmacy, management, law, nursing and other professional courses.The decision followed meetings held after the statutory March 31 deadline and has led to protests. At present, the state higher and technical education department is scrutinising the approvals.Yuva Sena highlighted the issue and made a representation to the department. It questioned whether the approvals violated provisions of the amended fee regulation law and sought a cancellation. The fee increase for the said courses is approximately 20% more than the previous year. If the approvals remain in force, students and parents may have to pay revised fees running into crores of rupees collectively.The Yuva Sena representation said FRA held 26 meetings between April 27 and July 17, approving fee revisions for 1,272 institutions. The organisation sought cancellation of all approvals granted after March 31 and an inquiry into the authority’s functioning.The representation claimed the amended law makes it mandatory for the FRA to decide review petitions on fee proposals before March 31, ahead of the academic year. It questioned approval of proposals allegedly submitted after the prescribed deadline and claimed that in some cases, fee revisions for multiple academic years were cleared together. “FRA ignored the statutory timeline and approved fee hikes after March 31. The decisions have increased the financial burden on students and parents. We have submitted documentary evidence to the govt and expect corrective action at the earliest,” said Yuva Sena joint secretary Kalpesh Yadav.An increase in fees can upset financial planning for many families. “My son has secured admission to an engineering college. We had arranged funds based on the earlier fee structure. If colleges start to charge revised fees now, families like ours will have no option but to borrow more,” said a parent from Pune.A second year pharmacy student said uncertainty over fees has become a recurring concern. “Every year, there is confusion over fee revisions. Students deserve clarity before the admission process begins so that families can make informed decisions,” the student said.The representation has also demanded constitution of scrutiny cells and expert committees as envisaged under the amended law as well as an inquiry into the role of the FRA chairperson and members. FRA and higher and technical education department officials remained unavailable for comment till the time of going to press.ABVP protest at COEP over fee hikeOn Monday, members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a demonstration outside the main building of COEP Technological University against what they termed an “irregular” fee hike. The university issued a written assurance that students’ demands would be examined and a committee comprising students, faculty members and govt representatives would be constituted. “COEP attracts students from rural Maharashtra and across the country. Any fee hike should be reasonable and in line with AICTE norms of up to 10% annually, so that higher education remains affordable,” said ABVP Pune metropolitan secretary Radhey Bahegavankar.
