Former Union HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi on Monday strongly opposed the hike in the fees of Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) in the country.
He termed it as a move to "commercialise" education in the country against the interest of poor students.
"It is wrong to commercialise higher education in the country. The move would encourage loan-taking culture among students instead of making them self-dependent," he told reporters in Indore.
"Even in countries like the USA, there is a provision of providing education at a low cost by the educational institutions and they spend one-third of their per capita income on education," Joshi, reacting to the fee hike, said.
"Accordingly, in India as the per capita income is Rs 24,000 therefore, the fee should not be more than Rs 8,000," he said.
Stating that management is not just needed in business alone but also in other areas like power, traffic, water and sports, he said there is a need for a change in perspective of the management institutions towards the country.
Joshi had drastically reduced the IIMs' fees during the NDA regime triggering controversy over the issue of autonomy of these institutions.