DU's cheap but who should pay?

NEW DELHI: It does come as a surprise, but the fact is that tuition fees at Delhi University (DU) have remained the same for over six decades.
"Everyday, students pay Rs 30 for a cup of coffee and Rs 10 for car parking. But the monthly tuition fees have remained at Rs 15 and Rs 18 for undergraduate and graduate programmes, respectively, since 1938," said DU vice-chancellor Deepak Nayyar.
"How long will this free lunch continue?" he wondered.Nayyar feels there is a need for the university to review its fee structure.
Several students said they are not averse to the idea of a fee hike. Taking into account the general increase in income levels and living standards, an English (honours) first year student at St Stephen''s, Sushmit Sarkar, feels that university education has been rendered "too affordable" today.
"The university and college fees appear meagre compared to the ‘obscenely high'' fees that some of the private schools and institutions are charging. Those who can afford should pay more for higher education," he said.
Remarked Anjalli Ravikumar, a second year MBA student at the Faculty of Management Studies, "There''s no doubt that we are paying much less than what we are able to pay." Saying that the increase in tuition fees will be a step in the right direction, she however stressed that the university needs to be sensitive towards students from the lower economic strata while framing the new fee structure.
Concurring with the view, Tripti Parule, a final year journalism student at Kalindi College, said, "We should not lose sight of the fundamental principle of ‘education for all''." She suggested that the new fee structure be divided in categories based on various income groups. "The financially weakest section should be given complete fee-waiver followed by subsidies to the other weak sections in the economic hierarchy," said Parule.
While supporting the idea of concession for the weaker sections, the dean of students'' welfare, DU, Hema Raghavan cautioned that "things given on a silver platter may not be valued". She elucidated, "Beside subsidies, we''ll have to introduce innovative ‘earn- while-you-learn'' schemes for the deprived section wherein they can be purposefully employed within the ambit of the university or the college for jobs like stock-checking in libraries etc. This will make them realise the value of the subsidies offered to them."
However, there is a section of the student community — and a politically influential one at that — which may resist any move towards increasing the fees. The Delhi University Students'' Union (DUSU) would protest against such a move, declared DUSU president Nakul Bhardwaj. "Nearly 70 per cent of the students come from lower-middle-class families and even a minimal increase in fees may effect them adversely," he argued.
Acknowledging that the fee revision "cannot be done by diktat but by reflection, consultation and consensus", Nayyar said, "We must ensure that those who cannot afford, not only do not have to pay, but be given complete fee-waiver."
He added, "Universities today are functioning under severe resource crunch.Higher education will have to be financed by the government. The universities should complement this by trying to mobilise resources."