New Delhi: A PIL has been moved in the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Centre to issue guidelines to the varsities and other such institutions to charge only tuition fees, that too in installments, in view of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. The plea by a fourth year law student seeks directions from the Ministry of Education to the various universities and such institutions to give a break up of the fees being charged by them and to also grant concessions to parents on a case-to-case basis in the form of extension of time period to deposit the fees.
The petition, which is listed for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan on Wednesday, also wants framing of guidelines to ensure the varsities provide gadgets and fast internet connections, to those who cannot afford the same, so that all students have access to the online education or classes being held during the pandemic. The petition, which also arrayed the University Grants Commission (UGC), Bar Council of India (BCI), National Medical Commission (NMC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) as parties, contended that due to the pandemic not only the country’s GDP has shrunk but people employed in various sectors have lost their jobs or have faced reduction in salaries.
“Consequently, household income across all income groups has reduced considerably and people are facing severe cash crunch and financial burden. Owing to these circumstances, the parents of students pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate courses are finding it exceedingly difficult to pay the fees of their wards. “This situation is more alarming in the case of parents of those students who are pursuing their education in educational institutions which are set up under private universities and deemed universities which charge fees at a huge premium,” the petition said.
It further alleged that some educational institutions are taking coercive steps, like repeatedly calling, messaging or emailing parents threatening to strike-off names of their wards or deny them access to online classes over non-payment of fees. Some educational institutions are even resorting to namingdefaulting students in class Whatsapp groups and the virtual platformsbeing used to conduct online classes,” the plea claimed and sought that varsities be directed by the authorities not to indulge in such practices.
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