Protecting Students Against Erring Institutions

New Delhi, May 1 (UNI) To protect students, authorities today threatened punitive action against institutions that resort to coercive practices such as keeping their original certificates and confiscating fees.

In a press note, the Human Resource Development Ministry reported that such institutions ''are admitting students to technical education programmes long before the actual'' academic session.

''It has come to the notice of the government'' that they collect ''full fees from the admitted students'' and retain their school or other ''certificates in the original.'' The Ministry's statement did not name these institutions which it described as ''Institutions and Universities, including Institutions Deemed to be Universities.'' It noted that these institutions ''are also reportedly confiscating the fee paid if a student fails to join by such dates'' and ''certificates in original are being'' held ''to force retention of admitted students.'' The time-limit for students to join the programmes is ''being advanced in some cases unrealistically so as to pre-empt'' students from exercising options of joining other institutions of their choice,'' it said.

It said the government ''hereby directs'' the University Grants Commission and the All India Council of Technical Education ''to instruct Institutions and Universities in the public interest to maintain a waitlist'' of students or candidates.

It held that in the event of a student withdrawing before the start of the course, candidates on the waitlist be admitted against the vacant seat.

It stressed that institutions refund the ''entire'' fees collected from a student after deducting a processing fee not exceeding Rs 1,000 and not retain the original certificates.

If a student leaves after joining a course and if the vacancy is filled by another candidate by the last date of admission, the Institution must return the fees collected with proportionate deductions of monthly fee and any applicable hostel rent.

Violation of the UGC and the AICTE instructions ''shall call for punitive action including withdrawal of approval and recognition of erring institutions and universities.'' The HRD Ministry stressed that the UGC and the AICTE ''on their own or on receipt of specific complaints from those affected, take all such steps as may be necessary to enforce these direction.'' UNI