SPA Delhi PG fee structure sparks row; OBC students pay Rs 55K, while EWS pays ‘Zero’

The School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi, is facing criticism over its fee structure for postgraduate programmes for the January 2025 semester. As per the official notice, OBC students are being charged Rs 55,000 as tuition fee, while students from the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) are fully exempted and SC, ST students are required to pay only Rs 27,500.

The difference in tuition fees has raised concerns about the unequal implementation of fee waivers among reserved categories, particularly for students with comparable family incomes. In addition to tuition fees, all students are required to pay common charges for registration, enrolment, academic support services, examinations, and insurance.

As per the official notification, the fee structure is applicable to Indian students enrolled in the second and fourth semesters of master’s programmes at SPA Delhi, including those repeating these semesters. The deadline for fee payment is January 13, 2025.

The tuition fee policy, however, has raised objections from student groups and public representatives. Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore, in a letter, addressed to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, has demanded a revision of the fee structure.

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OBC students charged despite low income, says MP

The MP, who is a member of the Standing Committee on Welfare of OBCs, alleged that the current structure treats OBC students as “second-class citizens” and reflects a continuation of exclusionary practices in centrally funded institutions.

“The Other Backward Classes have faced centuries of systemic and structural exclusion. Despite constitutional safeguards, policies like these reveal how deeply Manuwadi thinking continues to shape institutional decisions even in premier educational institutions funded by public money,” the letter said.

Tagore highlighted that students from the EWS category receive full tuition waivers, while OBC students with similar income levels are still required to pay the full amount. In his letter, he called on the Ministry of Education to ensure equal treatment and requested the following actions:

• Reform the SPA fee structure to ensure parity for low-income OBC students;
• Issue uniform fee waiver guidelines to all centrally funded institutions; and
• Review policies that perpetuate social inequities in institutional frameworks.

According to the letter, “This is not just about rupees and paisa. This is about dignity, equity, and the idea of India as envisioned in the Constitution.” The MP further warned that such disparities reinforce perceptions that public institutions continue to privilege caste hierarchies in new forms.