NAGPUR: In an ironic twist, the Nagpur University's (NU) Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar College of Law is facing allegations of illegally charging fees from students. The reserved category students are apparently being forced to pay partial fees, in violation of government rules.
College sources said this was done since state government funds have been delayed, forcing Nagpur University to collect all the fees. Reserved category students will be paid back the money at the end of the year, the sources claimed.
A state government resolution had mandated scholarships for students of specified reserved categories, if they meet other parameters. The colleges have to admit these students and the social welfare ministry reimburses fee directly to the institute.
Rahul Meshram, a law student at NU's campus on Amravati Road, said, "Quite a few students were forced to pay the examination fees and were told that they will get it back after the state government disburses the funds."
NU's actions violate the rules laid down by the government. A circular by the social welfare department on July 7, 2008, says that "the practice of charging fees from candidates eligible for scholarship is against the law and violates the government's policy".
Sources at law college campus confirmed that partial fees are being collected since 2010 after a "verbal order" from NU. "Last year, a high-ranking official from the controller of examination department told us to start charging partial fee. Otherwise, they threatened not to accept forms from our college. We were also ordered to refund the amount at the end of the term, when the government releases the scholarship fund. However, that official does not work with NU anymore," said the source.
The college officials accept that there never was a written directive from NU authorizing it to charge the fee.
When TOI approached NU for an answer, PRO Sanjay Bahekar said, "We have noted down your queries and will revert in a couple of days after gathering all the necessary information."
Social welfare minister Shivajirao Moghe said students at NU should refuse to pay the fees outright. "Though NU will reimburse the fees at the end of the year, the act of charging fees itself is illegal. We have not given any permission to institutes to collect fees in advance," said Moghe.
While NU has clearly transgressed legal boundaries in this regard, there is another side of the coin as well.
The social welfare ministry takes over a year to disburse funds under the scholarship, leaving the colleges to fend for themselves financially. While an official NU reply is awaited, it is possible that the fees are being collected to cover for funds shortfall.
Moghe accepted that there are delays in fund disbursal and so the online process was introduced. "I am aware that even online application process is facing technical problems, hence now we have decided to upgrade our servers. So far over a lakh scholarship forms have been uploaded and we will immediately start disbursing funds after verification. Last year, around 14 lakh applications were received by our ministry. I can assure you that the system will get better and faster within a month," said Moghe.
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