Engg colleges flout rules, collect project fee

​Hyderabad: In gross violation of rules, the managements of engineering colleges are collecting huge amounts from the final year students in the name of project works. It is learnt that these colleges have collected about Rs 10 crore from the students.

As per the rule, the fourth year engineering students have to complete a project and submit a report to the respective departments. The heads of the department would evaluate the report and give marks.

Taking advantage of this, the colleges are charging anything between Rs 3,000 to Rs 13,000 depending on the nature of the project. While some colleges give receipts others prepare a list of students and take their signature in the paid column. (The Hans India has copies of such receipts with it)

Though this issue has been brought to the notice of the JNTU, chairman of the Telangana State Council of Higher Education and to the special chief secretary, Education, no action has been taken so far.

Meanwhile, Shaik Owaise and other students on Saturday submitted a representation to Governor ESL Narasimhan seeking his intervention in the matter. According to Owaise, the managements say that the fee collected since students have been allowed to do the project work in colleges for which material is to be procured. But the students argue that the fee includes all these expenses.

The students say that they are forced to pay the project fee even though they did not use the college equipment and assistance of the teachers for the project.

Students of Siddhartha Institute of Technology and Sciences, Ghatkesar, said that they have paid Rs 13,000 as project fee, students of St Peters Engineering College, Kompally say that they have been charged Rs 8,000, Chirsthu Jyothi Institute of Technology and Sciences, Jangaon, Rs 8,000, Sri Indu College Of Engineering and Technology, Ibrahimpatnam Rs 6,500, SVS Institute Of Technology, Hanamkonda, Rs 6,500, Aurora's Technological and Research Institute, Uppal, Rs 5,000, Gurunanak Institute of Technology, Ibrahimpatnam, Rs 5,000, Geetanjali College of Engineering and Technology, Keesara Rs 4,000, Nalla Malla Reddy Engineering College, Ghatkesar, Rs 3,000, Nalla Narasimha Reddy Engineering College, Ghatkesar, 2,500, TKR College, Rs 3,500, TKEM College Rs 6,000, MITS, Kodada, Rs 3,000, Spoorthy College Rs 2,500.

When contacted, JNTU Registrar N Yadaiah told The Hans India that collecting the project fee was against the rules.

He said that on receiving complaints from the students they have written to the colleges instructing them not to collect any fee in the name of projects. Yadaiah said the JNTU has no power to take action on those colleges which have been violating the rules of fee regulation. The students should make a complaint to the Fee Regulatory Committee. The committee would write to the government to take action on the erring colleges.

He said the JNTU would also write to the government on the violation of fee regulatory rules. Since the government was the competent authority it would take action, he said.

However, justifying the collection of project fee, a lecturer of Chrisu Jyothi College of Engineering Ch Srinivasa Rao said that it was a fact that they were collecting the fees.

He said the officials wanted them to hold project works in the colleges and they need to procure material for the projects and hence they were collecting the fees.

In the past, students used to do the project work outside the colleges. But that used to result in wrong practices as the students used to buy CDs of project reports from other institutions.

In many such cases, the students used to fail in viva. To prevent such practices the officials of the Education department had instructed that the project works be done in colleges, he said.