The proposed five-fold hike in fee for Indian Institutes of Technology, put forth by the Anil Kakodkar committee in January, is likely to face stiff resistance.
The Human Resource Development Ministry is likely to reject the steep hike proposed by the committee and may only accept a partial hike in fee for the prestigious institutes.
The committee had suggested that the hike was necessary to help provide autonomy to the IITs by making them economically more independent, as reported by this paper first on January 18.
Official sources stated that the proposal to hike the fee steeply is likely to be rejected as the stiff hike is being viewed as unreasonable and is likely to put immense pressure on the students and parents community alike.
The step is also likely to come under severe criticism from the ruling Congress and its allies, like many other such proposals put forth by the Kapil Sibal-headed HRD ministry earlier, as the hike could end up hurting the UPA government’s inclusive education policy agenda.
The hike is being seen as a hurdle in promoting higher education amongst the under privileged sections of the society.
“The HRD ministry is only likely to increase the fee partially and in a phased manned so as not to come under criticism for being anti-people,” sources added.