With the state government announcing on Monday that it would fix a cap on the fees that it would reimburse, students will have to bear the excess amount. The government, however, has assured that it will help students get interest-free loans from banks. The Admissions and Fee Regulatory Committee has sought three-months to revise the fee structure based on the SC orders.
Officials estimate that the fees will increase to a minimum of Rs 50,200, which means students have to pay nearly Rs 20,000 from their pockets. In some colleges, the fees will be in the range of Rs 75,000 to Rs 1,00,000. The decision was taken in the meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Monday. “It will take another 2-3 months to revise the fee structure for engineering, MBA and MCA colleges. However, we cannot delay Eamcet and Icet counselling for admissions on account of this. For this reason, we have decided to begin the counselling with the old fee structure. The government will also reimburse the old fees for BC, EBC students. In case of any hike in fees, the students will have to bear the additional amount. However, the government will assist them to get interest free loans from banks for the purpose,” said minister for social welfare Pithani Satyanarayana.
The state’s decision evok-ed sharp criticism from BC and EBC associations, who threatened to launch state-wide agitations if it did not reimburse the entire fee irrespective of a hike.