DU hikes thesis submission late fee to Rs 1,000 per day; draws flak

NEW DELHI: The University of Delhi drew strong criticism for setting thesis submission late fee at Rs 1,000 per day. Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA), Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) and several other students have condemned the decision and alleged “corruption and mismanagement”.

In a circular dated February 19, the Delhi University controller of examination, Ajay Kumar Arora notified the revised remuneration, exam fees, allowance for examiners, which was approved by the DU vice chancellor Yogesh Singh.

The revised charged are application for conducting BSc (MT), Radiology, BTech, BDS, BAMS, BUMS, NHMS, MBBS, MSc MIT, MSc Respiratory Therapy, MPH, MD/MS, diplomas and DM/MCh and super-specialty examinations.

Doctor bodies oppose fee hike

The doctors group said that the thesis submission fee has been raised by 3 times just 10 days before the last date. Highlighting the issues faced by the students in the medical colleges, FORDA said: “The university is looting and fleecing lakhs of money from postgraduate medical residents in the name of ‘late fees’ on advance notices of fee deposition- Amounting to a whooping 50 Lakhs+”

FORDA said that the university asked for 2nd year fees just 3 months into the course and third year fees in the beginning of 2nd year. When the issues on hike in fees were raised, the university made false promises and extorted money from students with threats, it added.

RDA, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital strongly condemned the fee escalation of MD thesis submission. “The fee increment for late thesis submission at Rs 1000 per day not only imposes significant financial strain on resident doctors but also contravenes the principles of fairness and equity in academic endeavors.”

“Many of our colleagues are already grappling with formidable challenges, including heavy workloads, demanding schedules, and constrained financial resources. This sudden imposition of heightened fees exacerbates these existing difficulties, erecting an additional obstacle to academic achievement,” the medicos said.

“Imposing punitive measures, such as exorbitant late fees, fails to address the root causes of delayed submissions and disproportionately penalizes individuals already navigating significant challenges,” the joint statement said.

DU: Revised fees

The revised remuneration, exam fees for engineering, medical, MSc students are given below.