Mid-Day:
Mumbai: Monday, 01 February 2016.
Soon, students in Mumbai may not have to pay
exorbitant fee amounts for seeking photocopies of their answer-sheets. The
change follows the Information Panel's ceiling for the amount charged for
seeking copies of answer-sheets. It will now be just Rs 2 per page.
The Central
Information Commission (CIC) gave this order on January 16 while hearing a case
of a student named Abne Ingty against Delhi University where this charge is
above Rs 700 per answer-sheet.
At Mumbai
University, charges can be as much as R100 per answer-sheet; at a private
university such as Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), these
charges are as much as Rs 500 per answer-sheet, irrespective of its size in
terms of number of pages.
The order
from the CIC states, 'Rules prescribing a student to pay exorbitant fees for
seeking copy of answer sheets are in violation of Right to Information Law and
must be changed to allow a student to exercise his Right to Information.' The
order also directs the University Grants Commission (UGC) to issue required
directives for prompt implementation of the order.
Ravi
Bhardwaj, legal expert in the education sector, said, “To make it difficult for
a student to exercise his RTI is an infringement of the liberty of students to
get a photocopy of their answer scripts and their right to access the
information. 'Right to Access the Information' is inherent in Right to
Information.”
Mumbai
University's PRO, Leeladhar Bansod, told SUNDAY mid-day, “We have read the
order. But, required directives have to come from the UGC, which will be
discussed at MU's management council before finalisation.” At NMIMS too,
authorities await UGC directives.
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