The HRD Ministry has instructed Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to continue with their existing fee structure.
The decision of not increasing fees took place during a meeting of the IIT Council, chaired by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, in Mumbai on Friday.
“The ministry told us it does not want to force us to reach the 1 lakh number in next two years. The ministry believes quality is key in IITs, and IITs should take their own pace to reach any number,” said an IIT council member, seekinh anonymity told The Indian Express.
According to reports, the IITs have agreed to increase the number of seats for women candidates by 20% at the B.Tech level over a period of five years. They will add 4% seats per year for women at the undergraduate level, the IIT council decided on Friday. Some of the IITs are expected to adopt the formula from this year.
In April 2016, while allowing IITs to increase undergraduate fee to Rs2 lakh per annum, the government had convinced them to waive, in full, the annual fees for students from the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and differently-abled categories.
