Students protest fee hike, stipend rollback for IIT-B’s MTech course

Students of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) on Thursday held a rally to protest the reforms introduced by the union Ministry of Human Resource

Students of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) on Thursday held a rally to protest the reforms introduced by the union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) for the institute’s MTech course. They said the new policies will discourage students from socially and economically backward communities from pursuing MTech in IITs.

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On September 26, the 53rd IIT Council had approved a 10-fold increase in course fee and the discontinuation of stipend to MTech students.

Currently, MTech students pay ₹30,000-₹50,000 a year for the course. This is now expected to increase to ₹2 lakh. Moreover, students will no longer receive stipends and have been instead encouraged to seek stipends from the industry.

A statement released by students on Thursday read, “The government is spending huge money to commercialise higher education in the name of promoting ‘world class institutes’. Fee hike and stipend cut will reserve education in IITs for the socially and economically privileged.” A research scholar from IIT-B told Hindustan Times, “The fee hike and discontinuation of stipend will cause the institutes’ research output to shrink. People with talent may not be able to secure a seat. Many graduates are already burdened with education loans from their BTech degrees. How will they be able to afford higher studies? It is an attack on research.”