MUMBAI: The Bombay high court asked the state government to release an ad-hoc amount to educational institutes, totaling ₹3,601.66 crores, to alleviate their financial strain in the face of outstanding fees. The division bench of Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Manjusha Deshpande, instructed the Higher and Technical Education Department, acting as the nodal agency for various schemes providing fee waivers to reserved category students, to submit a proposal to the chief secretary.
Since 2006/2007, the state government has granted fee waivers to students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Vimukta Jatis, Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Class, Special Backward Class, and Economically Backward Class. Under these schemes, the government reimburses their fees to educational institutes. However, the Association of the Management of Unaided Engineering Colleges, along with individual institutes, raised concerns about prolonged non-reimbursement.
Following earlier court directions, the Higher and Technical Education Department was designated as the nodal department for reimbursement. On November 1, it was revealed that a substantial amount of ₹ 3,601.66 crores remained pending reimbursement to educational institutes for the last and current financial years.
In response, the court said that the state government should consider releasing an ad-hoc amount to each institute, acknowledging the technical challenges involved but emphasising the need to prevent extreme hardship for educational institutions. The court awaits the government’s decision expecting clarity by November 29.