Fee panel inspects 3 engineering colleges

COIMBATORE: Three self-financing engineering colleges in and around Chennai

have been found to have collected excess fees from undergraduate

students. Members of the complaints cell headed by Anna University

professor V Jayabalan, which was constituted by the State government

recently to probe complaints of excess fee collection, inspected the

institutions on Thursday and Friday.“The committee visited the Rajalakshmi Engineering College in Thandalam

and found that the institution was collecting Rs 27,000 in excess of the

prescribed fees without issuing any receipts to students. The students

complained that they were unable to obtain bank loans for this amount as

receipts were not issued,” Jayabalan said on Friday.“During

inspection, the institution’s authorities have given a written

undertaking to issue the receipts immediately. However, since excess fee

cannot be collected we will conduct further inquiry,” he said.The

committee also inspected the Sree Sasthaa Institute of Engineering and

Technology in Chembarambakkam following complaints that the college was

collecting Rs 20,000 from first generation students who are currently

pursuing their second year BE course. A similar complaint came to light

at the Arignar Anna Institute of Science and Technology in

Sriperumbudur, where the committee visited on Friday.

“The authorities of the institute who were present at the time of

inspection could not give any explanation,” Jayabalan said. Meanwhile,

the committee has warned colleges against collecting the full fees from

first generation engineering degree students, as the government has

waived the tuition fee for them. The fees will instead by paid by the

government directly to colleges.