IIT Fee Hike: Complete Fee Waiver for SC/ST & Disabled Students

HRD Minister Smriti Irani promised a complete tuition fee waiver for the backward class and physically challenged students of the IITs.

According to TOI, "Besides a complete fee waiver for these students, those with a family income of less than Rs 5 lakh will be given a 66% concession in the fees," Irani.

According to the National Survey report, IIT Madras lead the rank followed by IIT Mumbai and IIT Kharagpur. Currently, the 23 branches of IITs in the country have 15 percent, 7.5 percent and 27 percent of seats reserved for SC, ST and OBC candidates respectively.

The Supreme Court ruling has entitled the OBCs for an additional 27 percent of seats in the state-funded educational institutions, thus pushing the total caste based educational quota in the country to 49.5 percent while 22.5 percent of government jobs and places in state-funded educational institutions is allocated for the people belonging to scheduled castes.

Last month, the standing committee of IIT Council (SCIC) approved a proposal for a three-fold hike in annual fees in IITs. If the recommendation is accepted, the fees of foreign students would be raised from USD 4000 to USD 10000. The committee also recommended educational loans at an interest free basis under the Vidyalakshmi scheme.