Advantage not taken: Guj loses 2,000 seats under Central fee waiver scheme

The AICTE had introduced Union government’s TFW scheme for women,economically backward (annual income less than Rs 2.5 lakh from all sources) and physically handicapped meritorious students in 2007. The scheme was formulated for promoting technical education covering degree and diploma programmes in engineering and technology,pharmacy,business administration,computer applications,architecture,hotel management and catering technology (HMCT),applied arts and crafts.

Executive Council member of Gujarat University,Manish Doshi,said: “A loss of 2,000 seats meant for the weaker sections means snatching away opportunity from that many meritorious students. It is all due to lack of sincere effort to implement the scheme. It dents our own educational standards.”

Under the scheme,any recognised college affiliated to AICTE can voluntarily waiver the tuition fee up to 10 per cent of its sanctioned intake of students. The institution in turn is allowed to admit 10 per cent additional students in the same discipline. Out of the total seats that constitute the 10 per cent,50 per cent seats are meant for the economically weaker sections,33 per cent for women and 15 percent for the physically handicapped meritorious students.

A few institutes in Gujarat have adopted the scheme and enjoyed the benefits. However,it has not been adopted by many colleges especially in MBA and MCA courses,which results in an annual loss of 2,000 seats —1,600 in engineering and 400 in MBA and MCA courses.

Gujarat has a total of 24,000 seats in engineering colleges and pharmacy colleges. Out of the 2,400 seats that are offered under the TFW scheme,only 800 have been filled. That has left 1,600 seats unutilised. An additional 400 seats that constitute 10 per cent of the total of 4,000 seats in MBA and MCA colleges across the state have not been filled either.