DU English department revises PhD fee amid uproar; ‘not satisfactory’ says teachers’ body

NEW DELHI: After receiving backlash from students and teachers, the English department at Delhi University has revised the PhD fee. As per an official notification, the fee for a PhD degree in English has been reduced to Rs 17,118 for students admitted for the academic session 2023-24. Earlier, the department allegedly increased the fee to Rs 23,968.

The university informed that any excess amount paid by the research scholars will be adjusted at the time of payment next time.

“It is hereby notified that as decided by the University, the revised fee for PhD scholars admitted with effect from the academic year 2023-24 shall be Rs.17,118/- (Rupees seventeen thousand one hundred and eighteen) and excess payment, if any, already made by the research scholars, will be adjusted at the time of next payment. Applicable relaxations will be as per prevailing University Rules,” said professor Anil Kumar Aneja, head of the English department in an official notice.

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The teachers are still not happy with the decision and called the revision of fee “not satisfactory”. The Democratic Teachers’ Front demanded review.

“This revision is not satisfactory and is not even a lip service. We demand that the University reviews this decision. Increase in the fees of PhD was never placed for discussion in the statutory bodies. The fees of the PhD programme has been doubled across. Even this is unacceptable to us,” said Abha Dev Habib, DTF secretary in an official statement.

The teachers’ body said that there should be a parity in the fee structure of various programmes across departments and it should reflect the public-funded nature of the university.

DTF found the policy replacing grants to HEFA loans as the cause of fee inflation and self-financed courses.

The university’s decision to hike the English PhD fee from Rs 2,000 last year to almost Rs 24,000 this year drew opposition from student and teacher bodies. While DTF had called it “unacademic” and demanded withdrawal, the Students’ Federation of India opposed the hike strongly.