Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar : Even as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (Bamu) has begun implementing the exam fee waiver process in light of state govt guidelines, student activists have alleged that conditions imposed by the govt have made the fee waiver process tedious and complex.
As per the university, around 7,500 students registered for the waiver by Oct 19 and the number is likely to surge until the official deadline on Wednesday night. “The exam fee is barely 10-15% of the total fees we pay.
Tukaram Saraf, a student activist, said the relief is meagre and hard to receive. For many students in Marathwada, arranging documents has become a runaround,” he said. The govt declares drought but gives relief only on exam fee, that too after producing several documents,” said Borde. The Bamu administration said it is working on a war footing to ensure not a single eligible student is deprived of the benefit as per instructions received from the higher and technical education minister. Bamu spokesperson Sanjay Shinde said, “The university is following the procedure laid down by the Higher and Technical Education department.
“Only students whose family annual income does not exceed Rs8 lakh are eligible for the waiver. To prove this, they have to produce a valid income certificate from competent authority, along with proof that they belong to the notified drought-hit taluka. Sushil Borde, regional president of the student wing of NCP (SP), highlighted that students who are already paying full tuition fees, development fees and other charges running into thousands of rupees, are getting a waiver of only a few hundred rupees for examination. What about the rest of the charges? In this time of drought, no genuine beneficiary will be left out.”