New Delhi, Sept. 8: The human resource development (HRD) ministry has rejected a plea by the IITs to withdraw the decision to waive the fees of students from economically weaker sections in BTech courses.

The tech schools have demanded the scrapping of the various waivers on the ground that it affects their resource generation and that many students are producing fictitious documents to claim the benefits.

The IIT Council headed by HRD minister Prakash Javadekar had in April discussed its standing committee's proposal to review the fee waivers.

The council, the highest decision-making body of the IITs, did not take any decision at that time and directed proper examination of the matter by the ministry through the preparation of a fact sheet.

The IIT Council had decided that the existing fee structure and waivers would continue till further decision.

The technical education bureau of the HRD ministry prepared a note in which it was mentioned that in the 2016-17 session, nearly 55 per cent of the 9,500 BTech students had availed themselves of the benefits of the fee waivers. This included 30 per cent from economically weaker sections while the remaining were from the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the disabled.

Before 2016, the IITs used to offer fee waiver to SCs, STs and those with parental income less than Rs 2 lakh a year. In 2016, then HRD minister Smriti Irani, as chairperson of the IIT Council, increased the annual BTech fee from Rs 90,000 to Rs 2 lakh and offered waivers in various categories.

Now, students from economically weaker sections with parental income of less than Rs 1 lakh a year are given a full fee waiver. Those with parental income between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh are offered a two-thirds waiver. The IITs foot the interest on the education loan of those students with parental income between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 9 lakh.

The IITs alleged that many students were producing fictitious certificates that were difficult for them to verify. The institutes also said that because of the various waivers, the resource generation of the IITs had got affected despite the fee hike.

"The IITs are correct in their assessment. But the government did not agree. The existing order on fee waivers continues," a senior HRD ministry official said.

However, the ministry is likely to accept the demand of the IITs that the government bear the interest on education loans.

An IIT director said the operational cost on each B.Tech student was Rs 6 lakh a year. Although a panel had recommended that the fees be increased to Rs 3 lakh, the government agreed on Rs 2 lakh.

"The increase was minimal. Yet, the government introduced provisions for two types of waivers for the economically weaker sections and asked the IITs to bear the interest burden too. These subsidies neutralised the earnings from the fee hike," the director said.

The IIT Council today allowed the institutes to set up extension centres with the help of alumni members to enhance outreach. These centres will organise lectures and courses for engineering college teachers to help them update their knowledge. IIT Madras has already started such centres.