Since the admission season kicked off this year, the Fees Regulating Authority (FRA) has already begun addressing grievance cases against nearly 50 state colleges that are charging fees above the approved amount. Most of the colleges offer dental, pharmacy, medical, and ayurvedic courses and are allegedly charging excessively under the guise of uniform, practical book, gymkhana, internal exam, and hostel fees, and even fines for low attendance.
Students have alleged that colleges in Nashik and Parli are engaging in forceful cash collection and are even holding students’ original documents ransom till they pay overhead fees. Many have also allegedly violated norms pertaining to scholarship for girls and are misinforming their students about the provisions that can be made available to them, while another ayurvedic college came under fire for illegally charging students under the Scheduled Caste category over Rs 1 lakh. In Mumbai, dental colleges have come under fire for hiking their fees only after allotting seats.
The FRA has also seen complaints from teachers across the state who have raised an alarm against the delay in their retirement dues and gratuities. Taking cognisance of the complaints, FRA’s grievance cell has begun scheduling meetings with all the institutes in question. On Tuesday, September 23, the committee began inspecting six medical and dental colleges across Pune, Mumbai, Amravati, and Parli. As reported previously by mid-day, the committee had also received complaints against Jogeshwari’s HK College of Pharmacy and made a virtual inspection of the college via a video call.
“The matter is still under review, and soon all colleges will be asked to present their bank statements to the FRA. We have plans to begin stricter, random inspections across various state colleges to ensure that the facilities they provide match the fees they charge. At the moment, since the committee is short-staffed, the inspections need to be conducted virtually, over a video call, where the principal or a school representative is asked to give us a tour of the college and its facilities,” said Dharam Mishra, FRA member and a part of the authority’s grievance committee.
According to sources at the FRA, the authority is now also in plans to create an FRA watermark. Which will be displayed on college websites next to the fees after they have been reviewed by the FRA. There are nearly 4000 colleges in Maharashtra that fall under the body’s jurisdiction.
