Chennai: TheChief minister’s cell has seen a barrage of student complaints about excess fees for govt-quota engineering seats, delayed certificates, poor-quality food in hostel messes, shortages of qualified teachers and exam-related issues. Since June this year, more than 500 complaints have been forwarded to Anna University alone.Complaints addressed to chief minister C Joseph Vijay allege colleges charge govt quota students special, sports and placement training fees. Some collect 25,000 per semester from students under the 7.5% special reservation for govt school students, although state govt reimburses their full fees.Fees for govt quota seats were fixed about nine years ago at 50,000, or 55,000 for accredited courses, and have not been revised. Colleges say they cannot offer engineering programmes at such low fees and charge under other heads, prompting numerous complaints.Sources said parents who paid capitation fees for management quota seats also sought refunds after colleges allegedly refused to return money when students secured admission through counselling. Some colleges demand transportation fees for the entire year, while others seek four years’ fees from students who want to quit after a year.Anna University raised complaints with respective colleges, and in many cases students recovered money and certificates. “More than 100 complaints were forwarded to our university every month. The university is verifying the genuineness of these complaints and trying to resolve issues in 30 days,” Anna University registrar (in-charge) V Kumaresan said.University appointed a nodal officer to track complaints. “As per the instructions from the higher education department, we will resolve complaints by the first week of Nov,” he added.Sources said complaints extended beyond engineering colleges. TN Dr MGR Medical University is examining excess-fee complaints against medical colleges, while University of Madras is addressing similar complaints against arts and science colleges.University of Madras distance-mode students complained that non-teaching staff were harsh towards them.
