CHANDIGARH: Students can well expect to pay higher fee amounts at Panjab University. These will start increasing at a faster pace with each subsequent year. While the current rate of inflation in the country is hovering between three and four per cent, PU will be hiking its fee on a continuous basis of 10 per cent every year based on the previous year''s fee amount. This hiking of fee by 10 per cent of the fee of the previous year will bring about a gradual increase to levels that would make it possible for the university to fund its expenses through internal accruals instead of banking upon the government to dole out finances.
Administration sources at Chandigarh have been quite categorical in their statements that funding from the government for higher education is only going to dry up in the near future. ‘‘The problem of finances is being faced by every department.
It has to be tackled at the ground level. The ‘‘user must pay'''' concept has to be brought in. For how long can the subsidies continue and why should they continue in the first place? There are always other solutions to the problem,'''' said a senior UT administration official. In mid 2001, the Punjab government constituted a committee of the three vice-chancellors along with the deans of the college development councils of the three affiliated universities in Punjab. The committee reported that fees should be hiked up to 500 per cent and the report went to the cabinet where it is alleged that the government was advised not to implement the proposal before the then scheduled elections, as it would have had a negative impact on the poll prospects. College teachers and university senators held deliberations on the issue and said that it highlighted the anti-higher education stance of the Punjab government. ‘‘The government wants the colleges to raise the fee and take the blame. Why should we do it? If the government is incapable of supporting higher education and due to whatever reasons its coffers are empty, then it should take the decision to hike the fees and take a principled stand,'''' say teachers. Panjab University''s fee issues: Even as the university goes through the throes of a fee crunch, its own teachers have obtained 50 per cent concession in the NRI fee amounts for their children.
‘‘If the university is trying to make money through the NRI seats and actually compromising on talent, then does it make sense to allow teachers to have a discount?'''' asked a university senator. The full fee for the NRI seats is 3,000 US dollars for general courses. It is 4,000 US dollars for the chemical engineering course, while it is 5,000 US dollars for the MBA programme. The university has agreed to extend the concession to the wards of college teachers also in the respective colleges. The NRI fee concept is facing criticism on another front. The university claims to be making socialist moves by charging a high NRI fee from those who can pay for the few reserved seats. ‘‘What is actually happening is that rich people with poor scores are getting admission while poor students with high scores are being denied admission. Where is the socialist concept in this?'''' asked a senator. Proposals to introduce a differential fee structure are considered more viable, but have not been implemented. One of the proposals is to obtain a last fee paid in school certificate from prospective students and then calculate the university fee on that basis.
However, detractors argue that this could be challenged in court for being a discriminatory fee structure. They propose that instead of having a differential fee structure, there should be a uniform high fee structure for all and then later give subsidies to those students who cannot pay. PU vice-chancellor Prof K N Pathak feels that the university was indeed at a crossroads and managed to stabilise itself to a large extent on the financial front. Pathak had earlier said that once the policy regarding external support to the university was clearly spelt out, it would be explored how to make it easy for small contributors wanting to give back to the alma mater. This however, has not been implemented and there have been very few contributions to the university from the pool of many lakh alumni. There have been heated debates at Panjab University over the varying fees and funds being charged by affiliated colleges.
Variations in fee structures are as high as a few thousand rupees in various colleges. While GGDSD College, Sector 32 charges a little more than Rs 4,000 for the BCom course, colleges in Moga and Ferozepur are charging fee as high as Rs 9,000 in plain BA courses. These variations prompted a former PU syndic and senator M L Anand to complain against the violation of the PU rules and regulations that require affiliated colleges to have similar fee structures. However, teachers feel that such violations take place since colleges are short on money and have to take money from students through funds as fee structures are fixed by the university. Panjab University has actually been the most prudent in the manner it has imposed fee hikes. While the other universities - Punjabi University at Patiala and Guru Nanak Dev University at Amritsar - have increased the fee several fold, PU has resisted these moves in the name of education for all. ‘‘Students here have a short-sighted view of things. On one hand they want facilities like those in the western universities while on the other hand they do not want to pay for it. It is contradictory to demand quality and then not pay for it. Even in the US people pay through their teeth for higher education,'''' said a syndic.
Pathak said that he was open to suggestions from all quarters of society on how to run a vast university system imparting higher education to more than one lakh students even as the government was cutting down on resources. ‘‘I am most open to ideas and suggestions. Ideally speaking, we are all for free education. But is it possible? Who will pay teacher salaries? Who will buy the best equipment and books? The state supports education as in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries, or else the students pay tuition. If there is a third way out, we are willing to explore it,'''' said Pathak.
PU has estimated that Rs 73.25 crore out of a total Rs 89.62 crore expenditure would be spent on salaries in 2002-2003. This highlights the grim situation wherein the university is spending almost 95 per cent of its resources on bare survival; leave aside improvement in infrastructure and other amenities.The university board of finance has approved an estimated budget deficit of Rs 65.31 crore for the year 2002-2003. The union finance ministry''s expenditure reforms committee has already proposed a hike of 20 to 33 per cent in tuition fee. This is yet to be implemented.