CU directs affiliated colleges to follow same fee structure for courses offered in varsity

Kolkata: The Calcutta University (CU) has directed all its affiliated colleges that offer Masters degree courses to adhere strictly to the fee

structure of the university and not to charge any extra fees from the students for pursuing the same course in their institutions.

The state Higher Education department has observed that some affiliated colleges under the university are charging exorbitant fees from students, who are getting admission to Masters degree course on a subject in comparison to what the university charges on that specific subject for offering the same degree.

"We have received an advisory in this regard from the state Higher Education department and I have asked our registrar to quote the same and upload it on our website," said Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee, Vice Chancellor of CU.

A notification in this regard undersigned by acting Registrar Debasis Das has already been uploaded on CU website.

There are instances when it has been found that a particular institution is charging fees to the extent of 1 lakh for the same subject that can be pursued directly in the university at Rs 7000 to 8000.

"Some of these institutions are charging hefty fees in the name of 'self-financed' courses and are laundering money. The state Higher Education department wants to curb this

practice and bridge this fee disparity," a senior CU official said.

CU has a total of 147 affiliated colleges among which PG courses are offered in 32 colleges.

The total number of PG seats in the varsity, including the colleges that offer PG is 8,695. The seats in Master of Arts (MA) is 4,373, in Master of Science (MSc ) is 3,074 while that in Master of Commerce (M.Com ) is 1,248. The total seats in the varsity is 5,520 while that in its affiliated colleges offering PG is 3,175.

The colleges cited their difficulty in sticking to the same fee structure of CU in continuing with their self-financed courses MA courses . " We have to rope in guest lecturers and offer them fees from our college itself for running the self financed courses. If we have to maintain the same fee structure as that of CU it will be difficult for us to sustain the courses," said Indrila Guha, principal of Basanti Devi College.

This college at Gariahat offers two self-financed MA courses in Political Science and English and charges a fee of Rs 28,400.

Vidyasagar College principal Goutam Kundu pointed out. "We get no financial assistance from the government for the self financed courses. The facilities and infrastructure offered by us entail huge expenditure. So, it will be a daunting task to charge the same fees that the varsity charge for a particular course."

Vidyasagar College offers self financing MSc course in Zoology and Geogarphy. The total fees for Zoology is

Rs 80,000 while that in Geography is Rs 70,000.