Pvt Colleges Appeal To AICTE For A Uniform Fee Structure

Hyderabad: Engineering seats might become dearer in the coming academic year with private college managements from eight states demanding implementation of a uniform fee of Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 per annum in all engineering colleges across the country. The current fee per seat in AP engineering colleges is only Rs 30,200 per annum. 

   During its annual body meeting here on Saturday, Federation of Association of Managements of Un-aided Professional Educational Institutions in India (FAMPEI) passed a resolution demanding All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) to bring about a uniform fee structure for engineering colleges in all the states. 

   “Currently, fee regulatory committees at the state level fix the fees for engineering colleges and hence there is no uniformity of fee across the country and it ranges from Rs 30,000 to Rs 80,000. Hence, we want a re g u l at o r y body at the national level to implement a uniform fee which is acceptable to all,” said K S Ravi Kumar, spokesperson, FAMPEI, adding that AICTE should take up the task of enforcing a uniform fee structure. While the fee for an engineering seat in states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are Rs 38,000 per annum, in states like Maharastra and Uttar Pradesh the annual fee is Rs 78,000. 

   Spelling out another change in the fee structure the management representatives also demanded that there should be no difference in fee for convener quota (A category - merit) and management quota (B category) seats. Currently, the difference in fee between these two categories is around Rs 60,000. The management quota fee in Andhra Pradesh, for instance, is Rs 91,000 per annum. 

   The federation also demanded AICTE not to make M Tech the basic qualification for assistant professors (lecturers) in engineering colleges at least for the next five years. The M Tech clause was introduced in the AICTE rule book on January 10. 

   “There is a shortage of post graduation (PG) holders in engineering. Hence, most of the colleges in the country have been recruiting people with B Tech degrees as their faculty. If AICTE insists that M Tech should be the basic qualification for the faculty, almost all the colleges in the state will have to close down,” said P Rajeswar Reddy, a management representative from the state.