DSEU revokes fee waivers for SC, ST, and EWS students, bars 'fee defaulters' from exams

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Skills and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) has revoked a 20 per cent fee concession for SC and ST students and a 10 per cent waiver for the EWS category, raising concerns among those affected. Several students said they were concerned not only by the revocation of waivers, but also a recent fee hike and the criteria to exempt "fee defaulters" from taking exams.

The DSEU, a state established and funded Institute has revoked the concession provided to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Economically Weaker Section (EWS) students starting the 2024-25 academic session and has hiked the fees by up to nine times for majority of its 80 courses, except the master's programmes, Aawaz, the varsity's students' body, said.

The revised fees can be viewed in DSEU's admission brochure -- Information Bulletin 2024 -- which provides the complete fee structure of courses offered at the university. Asked about the fee hike and revocation of the concession for SC, ST, and EWS students, DSEU Vice-chancellor Ashok Kumar Nagawat told PTI that the hike has been effected based on the recommendations of the Finance Committee considering the funding crunch and financial burden on the varsity. He added that the committee is slated to meet next on July 31 and will discuss the matter.

According to the bulletin available on the website, the fees of Bachelor of Optometry for first-year students has increased to around Rs 1.10 lakh per annum (including other annual charges) from Rs 29,700 in 2023-2024. The fees have been increased to the same amount in other courses such as BSc Data Analytics (previous fees Rs 41,580) and Bachelor of Computer Science (previous fees Rs 34,940), the document shows. "There will be an annual increase of 10 per cent in the fees. The semester fee will be accordingly based on that," the bulletin also states.

Education loan exception

On June 17, the varsity issued a list of of hundreds of "fee defaulter" students, barring them from sitting in the end term examination as well as from taking classes, the students' body alleged. The list was released on an official WhatsApp group of the administration which was shared by the respective campus directors with students, Awaaz claimed. "Dear all, please find the attached herewith list of students who have not paid their fees till date. These students are not allowed to sit for the end term examination (even semester). Campuses are requested to take note of this (sic)," read the message forwarded to students from Ritu Sareen, Assistant Registrar (Academics).

"Students who pay their fees through education loan will be allowed to sit for their examination subject to the condition that they will produce the documents that their loan is under process. Campuses are requested to share the details of such students so that we can update our record and not send messages for fee payment (sic)," read another message shared by an official in the same group. PTI reached out to Sareen for her response on the allegations but she refused to comment. "It is an official matter and I don't want to comment on this," she said. Several students rued that the hike in fees and discontinuation of concessions have added to their woes.

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A student beneficiary of the SC concession at one of the DSEU campuses, said "My father used to work as a labourer here but he is unable to work now as he is getting old. My mother is a handicapped woman and my elder brother is a student himself. So I don't have an earning member in the family." "I applied for a loan from the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSCFDC) but it's taking long. Perhaps I will have to drop out of college," the student added. Another student claimed, "I was not allowed to sit in the exam last month for not paying fees. My family somehow managed to arrange the money by borrowing from people. Now the university has asked me to pay Rs 28,500 more for the next semester. How will I arrange this amount?" "I want to request the administration to please give me fee concession or scholarship to continue my studies," the student added.

Forced to take loan

An EWS beneficiary who applied for admission this year said, "The varsity said they provide 10 per cent fee waiver to students from EWS category. Neither am I getting scholarship from the Central government, nor the state." The student said she wanted to pay her college fees through the scholarship but was now forced to avail a loan for the fee payment. Speaking to PTI, VC Nagawat said, "We have hiked the fees for some of the courses, particularly those which have a high demand in the market such as computer sciences and data analytics, to meet the students' expenses."

"We are facing a funding crunch and by increasing the fees to bring it at par with what other skill-based institutions charge, we will ultimately be able to provide better facilities to the students. There are many courses that we offer which require specialised set ups, laboratories and machines. The money will be utilised for providing these facilities," he said. "If you compare our fee structure with other skill universities, the courses that we offer here are way cheaper," he added.

Nagawat also said that the "decision to increase the fees annually was taken by the Finance Committee of the varsity, which includes secretaries of various Delhi government departments concerned, and was approved by the academic council of the university." Regarding the revocation of the SC, ST, and EWS concessions, the VC said, "The university is facing a funding crunch and therefore, it cannot continue to provide the relaxation." "We also can't put the financial burden of providing the concessions to SC, ST, or EWS students on the general category students. So what do we do then, where will we get the money from? That is why we have decided to discontinue it," he noted.