EWS students to get 50% discount in fee at self-financed univs in state: Govt directive
The Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education department on Thursday issued a Government Resolution (GR) in this regard. "Students who qualify for EWS status as per government prescribed criteria will get this benefit on the basis of merit.
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Dr Karad, Executive President and Vice Chancellor of MIT Art Design and Technology University in Pune, also said, "As private universities, we anyway provide meritorious students with financial help in forms of scholarships. Now it will be done under this system."
The Maharashtra Government has directed self-financed universities in Maharashtra to offer 50 percent discount in fees to meritorious students from economically weaker sections, irrespective of caste categories. This will apply to ten percent of the total admissions in self-financed universities. Moreover, the government will not provide any grant or financial assistance for this purpose.
The Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education department on Thursday issued a Government Resolution (GR) in this regard. “Students who qualify for EWS status as per government prescribed criteria will get this benefit on the basis of merit. This discount will be applicable to the total fee, including all charges levied by varsity on students under different headings. The discount will apply from the year when the student takes admission to the completion of the course,” states the GR. The move is decided in line with the student-oriented education system recommended in the National Education Policy (NEP), states the GR. This is to facilitate meritorious students from economically weaker sections to study in self-financed universities which are otherwise difficult for them to afford.
Maharashtra higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil on Wednesday had said that the state government will soon come out with a GR, which will mandate private universities to reserve 10 percent seats for students of EWS, and charge from them only 50 per cent of tuition fees. According to data from University Grants Commission (UGC), a total of 22 universities in Maharashtra are self-financed.
While admissions are currently underway in most universities across the state, Vikas Rastogi, the Principal Secretary of Higher and Technical Education department of Maharashtra, explained – “The said benefit will be applicable from the academic year 2023-24, wherein 10 per cent of students admitted to self-financed private universities will get the fee-waiver, provided they fulfil the criterion of EWS status.”
The GR also states that the fee-waiver be implemented at the time of admission. “Within a month from the last day of the admissions procedure, the self-financed universities will have to submit a report of such fee-waivers to the state government, along with details of the beneficiaries. Following this, a review will be taken at the government level,” states the GR.
Stating that the decision has been taken in consensus with private universities across Maharashtra; Prof Dr Mangesh Karad, President of the Preeminent Education Research Association (PERA), which is an association of all private universities in Maharashtra, said, “A meeting was held on this with the government a few months ago, and then the decision was taken. It will be applicable to students who can fulfil the criteria.”
Dr Karad, Executive President and Vice Chancellor of MIT Art Design and Technology University in Pune, also said, “As private universities, we anyway provide meritorious students with financial help in forms of scholarships. Now it will be done under this system.”
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