Pune Mirror: Pune: Wednesday, March 21, 2018.
Arecent
answer sought through the Right To Information (RTI) Act has sent shockwaves
across the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) campus. The query was
related to the examination fee waiver policy rolled out by the state government
and the number of students benefitted by it in 2016.
The RTI
reveals that only 18,344 SPPU students applied for the fee waiver. It may be
recalled that the state government had announced the policy for all the
students hailing from drought-prone areas. Now, the students claim that despite
many of them hailing from such districts and applying to gain benefits under
the said policy, they were not refunded by the authorities. Furthermore, they
allege that there has been a disparity in some colleges. While few colleges
took money from students, the remaining followed the norms and did not.
Kuldeep Ambekar,
former student of Garware College who had also filed the query under RTI, said,
“The state government had allocated Rs 5 crore to universities in the state and
had waived off the examination fee. But the same rule was not known to many
students so they ended up paying the fee. They later expected to get a refund.
Back then, we had protested against colleges that were accepting examination
fee and even sent them a letter signed by some 1,000 students who were
expecting a refund.”
Ghanashyam
Yenge, a student of MA in history from SPPU who paid Rs 475 as the examination
fee and belongs to drought-declared Chakur in Latur, said, “We paid the
examination fee and also informed our department that our Chakur is declared as
a drought region and applied for a refund. We are yet to get the amount. I have
completed my master’s and now pursuing a diploma.”
Another
student Varankar from Vidarbha’s Nimbi village added, “I paid Rs 475 as
examination fee despite the state government’s announcement. We are not waiting
for the refund. But, our point is that the state government should not announce
such policies which fail to be implemented well and leaves disparity among
students.”
Ambekar
continued, “As I was protesting against colleges and departments who were
accepting examination fee from students, I did not pay. But many of my
classmates were forced to pay by giving a false hope of refund. The university
had announced that four lakh students will be benefited by this policy.”
The students
are also not satisfied with the answer given by SPPU under RTI. Ambekar said,
“My third question to the university was the details about the funds that were
to be used to waive off the examination fee as the state government had
allocated Rs 5 crore for the same.”
Over this
query, the RTI reply said that the question was wrong and irrelevant. Students
have now decided to approach vice-chancellor Nitin Karmarkar to get their
issues addressed.
Ambekar
informed, “Though the amount for every student is not more than Rs 500-700, but
it is about the false promises made by the state government and its
implementing bodies. The status of drought areas was real bad then and even a
relief of Rs 500 would be huge as we come from farmers’ families.”
The
application process stipulated in different colleges and departments was so
tedious that some students preferred to pay the examination fee instead of
filling forms. Students complained that few colleges also asked a proof if they
belonged to drought villages and asked them to get a signed copy from the
tehsil.
Arvind
Shaligram, registrar, SPPU, said, “As there are two terms in each year when the
state government announced the examination fee waiver, many students had
already paid the amount. They later had to apply for a refund to their
respective colleges and departments. The colleges had to intimate SPPU with the
list of students. Therefore, most of the students must have not received the
amount.”
Shaligram
added, “For the next semester, SPPU did not collect any examination fee. The
total fund invested was approximately Rs 2.5 crore. The state government had
allocated Rs 5 crore, but it was not a compulsion to use the entire fund.”
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