Delhi University plans to hike PhD thesis evaluation fee by 50%: Report

The thesis submission fee, which was earlier ₹5,000 for students with a fellowship, is likely to surge to ₹7,500 -- a 50 per cent hike. For students without a fellowship, the fees are likely to rise over 80 per cent from ₹3,000 to ₹5,500.

Delhi University plans to raise the fees for PhD thesis evaluation by over ₹2,500 for all students, official documents showed.

Delhi University plans to hike PhD thesis evaluation fee by 50%: Report (HT Photo)

The thesis submission fee, which was earlier ₹5,000 for students with a fellowship, is likely to surge to ₹7,500 -- a 50 per cent hike. For students without a fellowship, the fees are likely to rise over 80 per cent from ₹3,000 to ₹5,500.

A university official, however, said the fees would now also include the charges for thesis submission and provisional certificates.

He claimed that earlier, the students had to pay for thesis submission and provisional certificates at a later stage. The new rules would combine all the fees as a one-time payment.

Defending the hike, Dean of Examinations DS Rawat said it was not a substantial increase and added that the entire system was being shifted online.

"Earlier, students had to pay 500 for a thesis submission certificate and provisional certificate. That is now being increased to ₹750 each and will be submitted along with the thesis submission fee," Rawat told PTI.

"Moreover, the thesis submission fee is only being increased by ₹1,000, which is not a substantial increase. The entire process is being made smoother and the students will benefit from it," he added.

Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh exercised his 'emergency power' and approved the revision of the honorarium for thesis evaluation in October.

The remuneration of thesis evaluation for Indian examiners is expected to be increased from ₹1,500 to ₹5,000 while that for foreign examiners will go up from ₹1,500 to ₹8,126.33 (USD 100). The remuneration to conduct viva-voce for Indian examiners will be raised from ₹1,000 to ₹2,000 and that for foreign examiners will be hiked from ₹1,000 to ₹4,063.16 (USD 50).

An Academic Council member, however, has decried the hike as unreasonable.

Naveen Gaur said the university must first provide a reason before raising the fees.

"They should first tell why the fee is being hiked as it is a public-funded university. They should tell whether they asked for money from the government first before increasing the fees for students," Gaur said.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.