New Delhi, Mar 17, DHNS: At its meeting here in IIT-Delhi, the panel also favoured replacing of the Joint Engineering Entrance-Main (JEE-Main) with an engineering aptitude test from 2017. PTI file photo
A standing committee of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has recommended a steep increase in the tuition fee of the premier technical institutes from Rs 90,000 to Rs 3 lakh per semester.
Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani, however, will take a final call on the recommendation of the panel as she is the chairperson of the IIT council, official sources told Deccan Herald.
At its meeting here in IIT-Delhi, the panel also favoured replacing of the Joint Engineering Entrance-Main (JEE-Main) with an engineering aptitude test from 2017.
The proposed aptitude test will be conducted on the lines of SAT conducted in US for admissions to colleges. Candidates who clear the aptitude test will then be allowed to take JEE-Advance.
Both the IITs and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) will admit students on the basis of their ranking in the all-India merit list to be prepared after the JEE-Advance, once the new pattern of the entrance test is introduced.
Though the HRD minister will take a final decision, the stage for scaling up the cost of study in the premier institutes was set at the meeting of the NIT council last year.
At its meeting presided by Smriti in October 2015, the NITs decided to recover the entire “running expenses” from students under a new mechanism adopted for the central government funding on Thursday.
The HRD Ministry had placed a proposal for recovery of the institutes’ operational cost from students, assuring that it will continue to bear funds to the NITs for investments in capital assets, labs, equipment and research while the institutes will recover the remaining “running expenses” including salary of teachers and maintenance from students through tuition fee.
The HRD Ministry’s proposal for recovery of operational cost from students was taken at the IIT Council’s meeting too later in October 2015. The Council then decided that the matter be examined by a committee.
Earlier in February this year, a committee of the IIT directors suggested threefold hike in fees and creation of a Rs 2,000-crore non-banking financial company. In line with the recommendation of the council, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced setting up of a higher education finance authority while presenting Union Budget for 2016-17.
“Students should not panic s they will be provided with options to get interest free easy loans. Students belonging to reserved category would continue to get waiver from tuition fee,” a senior official in the ministry said.