PATIALA, Aug 9: Punjabi University has substantially increased the fees for postgraduate classes from the current academic session. While there has been no increase in tuition fee, new heads have been created for generating additional revenue from fees.Among the important heads under which new levies have been made include the seminar fee of Rs 600, Rs 300 for educational tours, Rs 300 as payment for guest visiting faculty, and Rs 100 as infrastructure development charges.Thus each student has to pay at least Rs 1300 more from this year compared to last year. All these new components in fee structure would be chargeable at the time of admission. The syndicate has already accorded its approval to these new charges.There has also been a substantial increase in the hostel charges. The admission fee has been increased from Rs 50 last year to Rs 75. The medical fee has been increased from Rs 10 to Rs 20 and the development fund charges have been doubled from the previous year's Rs 25 to Rs 50 this year. These are all annual charges.Under the monthly charges, the room rent has been revised from Rs 35 to Rs 50. The water supply charges have been doubled from the last year's Rs 10 to Rs 20. Electricity charges have been increased by Rs 10 and the establishment charges have been hiked by Rs 10. The dilapidation fund has been increased by Rs 15 and there has been a similar increase in the student amenities fund.According to a conservative estimate the hostelers would have to pay Rs 1000 more than last year.Students in certificate and diploma courses in modern, classical and foreign languages would have to pay additional monthly charges of Rs 25 per month as maintenance fee, Rs 30 for electricity charges and Rs 30 by way of breakage fee.University Vice-Chancellor Joginder Singh Puar had earlier announced that there would be no increase in tuition fee while there may be nominal hike in other charges to meet the increasing expenditure. He said that this had been necessitated in view of the increasing expenditure on account of the general price rise.The university has a fee parity with the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. While the GNDU had last year substantially hiked fee, the Punjabi University has effected the hike only this year. According to a university spokesman, the hike is nominal compared to the increase made by the GNDU.
