Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar : While the Govt Resolution (GR) issued on Saturday assures waiver in exam fees for students as one of the drought relief measures, student activists have said that mere exam fee waiver is tokenism in face of Marathwada drought distress.
Sushil Borde, regional president of student wing of NCP (SP), said examination fees are generally Rs500 to Rs1,000, but families of the farmers have to bear admission fees, tuition fees, laboratory fees, hostel, mess, transport and other charges towards education of their wards. Borde said a student’s family actually pays admission and tuition fees ranging from Rs5,000 to Rs50,000 per year depending on the course and institution, laboratory library and development fees of Rs2,000 to Rs10,000, hostel charges of Rs15,000 to Rs40,000 annually, mess and food expenses of Rs3,000 to Rs5,000 per month, transport cost of Rs10,000 to Rs20,000 annually for rural students, besides exam form practical project and other miscellaneous charges. Therefore, only exam fee waiver is a cruel joke on drought-hit students, and full fees must go,” he said. Student activists also demanded that students from farmer families and others who are affected due to the drought in real sense must get a waiver instead of any blanket help.
“For families that lost last year’s kharif to excess rain and this year’s drought, meeting these expenses is itself difficult.
Supporting the demand for waiver in full fees, student activist from Shiv Sena (UBT), Tukaram Saraf said self-financed institutions should be also asked to ensure drought relief for affected students. Also, private institutions should show some generosity in the current time of crisis by arranging funds towards waiver on their own without seeking help from the govt,” he said. “The govt can reimburse private institutions money towards fee waiver.