KSU demands refund of fee levied on new students

The unit committee of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, has demanded withdrawal of the ₹500 fee being levied on newly admitted students under the label of the ‘150th anniversary fund’.

In a letter to the Principal, the committee said the fee was not included in the officially approved academic fee structure. Rajeev Patric, president of the KSU unit committee, added it was collected without proper administrative sanction.

The practice violates directives issued by the Director of Collegiate Education, which prohibit the collection of unauthorised or non-statutory fees from students, particularly during the admission process. The imposition of such an additional and unjustified fee deters economically weaker students from seeking admission. This, in effect, creates a barrier to access and results in indirect exclusion based on financial background. The committee has called for an immediate refund of the fee collected, according to the letter.

The college authorities said they were not forcing any student to pay the amount. The decision to collect the fund was taken by the executive committee formed in connection with the college’s 150th year celebrations. However, they added it was not compulsory and no student had been denied admission for not paying it.