The Delhi University (DU) has decided to increase the fees for its Undergraduate (UG) courses from the academic year 2022-23. This move was decided upon as DU is introducing charges under new heads such as for varsity facilities and economically weaker section (EWS) support fund and revising some other components.
Additionally, new sections to the fee structure like University Facilities and Services Charges, Economically Weaker Section Support University Fund and University Student Welfare Fund have been added, as stated in a report by PTI. Also, DU has increased the charge under University Development Fund from Rs 600 to Rs 900.
Although the university said that this fee hike will not be a lot, a Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) executive estimated that the increase in the annual fee for a student will be around Rs 1,000.
It started with a notification
DU issued a notification on July 26 stating that the restructuring has been done to rationalise fees for admissions across various colleges of the university and to ensure uniformity in various heads of expenditure.
According to the information, this new fee structure will be implemented from the 2022-23 academic session. Additionally, it highlighted that there is no change in the tuition fee and Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) fund. On the other hand, colleges are yet to decide on several portions of the fee, namely, the College Student Welfare Fund, College Development Fund and College Facilities and Service Charge.
As per a report in PTI, a DU official said, EWS Support University Fund has been added to the fee structure. Under this section, a student will have to pay Rs 100 annually. Giving more details on his, Director South Campus Prakash Singh said, "This is a new addition and the fund collected under this head will be used by the university for the welfare of the economically weaker section students."
Clarifying that there is no overall big hike in the fee, Singh said, "We have just organised it. There is no big change. Similar money was collected from students but now we have just added sections to specify to organise it."
A college principal who remains to be unnamed said, "New sections like University Facilities and Services Charges have been added. The section was not among the fee components earlier and now the university will charge Rs 500 under this head. Colleges also charge for using their facilities and services, like lab equipment." Further, he added that, "The university will decide how much they have to be charged. The fee will increase to a certain amount."
Sharing thoughts on this fee hike, DUTA Executive Aanand Prakash said that the varsity earlier used to charge Rs 600 towards the University Development Fund, now they have increased the amount to Rs 900. "Besides this, new sections have been added. The fee will go up by a minimum of Rs 1,000. After the university hike, the college will also restructure the fee and this will further increase the fee. I don't understand why the university feels the need to charge for the EWS fund when every college has the provision of charging students under this head," he said.
