Delhi University Academic Council approves plans to hike PhD thesis evaluation fee by Rs 2,500

NEW DELHI: The Delhi University Academic Council on Tuesday approved a resolution to raise the fee for PhD thesis evaluation by Rs 2,500, a senior official said.

The thesis submission fee, which was earlier Rs 5,000 for students with a fellowship, is likely to surge to Rs 7,500 -- a 50 per cent hike. For students without a fellowship, the fee is likely to go up by more than 80 per cent from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,500. Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh exercised his "emergency power" and approved the revision of the honorarium for thesis evaluation in October.

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The matter was put up for discussion in the Academic Council on Tuesday. "The Academic council has approved the honorarium for thesis evaluation," Dean of Examinations D S Rawat told PTI. An Academic Council member, however, decried the hike as unreasonable. The member, who did not wish to be named, said the university must provide a reason before raising the fee. "They should first tell why the fee is being hiked as it is a public-funded university. They should tell whether they asked for money from the government first before increasing the fee for students," the member said.

Defending the hike, Dean of Examinations Rawat said it was not a substantial increase and added that the entire system was being shifted online. "Earlier, students had to pay 500 for a thesis submission certificate and provisional certificate. That is now being increased to Rs 750 each and will be submitted along with the thesis submission fee," Rawat told PTI. "Moreover, the thesis submission fee is only being increased by Rs 1,000, which is not a substantial increase.

The entire process is being made smoother and the students will benefit from it," he added. The remuneration of thesis evaluation for Indian examiners is expected to be increased from Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000 while that for foreign examiners will go up from Rs 1,500 to Rs 8,126 (USD 100). The remuneration to conduct viva-voce for Indian examiners will be raised from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 and that for foreign examiners will be hiked from Rs 1,000 to Rs 4,063 (USD 50).