Cuttack, May 26: Ravenshaw University has increased the application and admission fees for various postgraduate and MPhil courses from this academic session.

Though the authorities claim that the fees are considerably cheaper than course fees at other state universities, the decision has not gone well with the students nor with civil society groups, who are demanding an immediate rollback.

The annual course fees for various postgraduate programmes at the premier state-run educational institution have been increased by Rs 500 to Rs 5,000, said sources.

The application fee for various postgraduate courses has been increased to Rs 200 from Rs 180 while a student will have to pay a course fee of Rs 4,950 instead of Rs 3,665 for various practical-oriented subjects such as physics and chemistry.

The annual course fee for other subjects such as commerce is now Rs 2,450 instead of the earlier Rs 1,800.

The fees for various self-financing courses, including international studies, rural development and journalism and mass communication, have also increased by Rs 5,000.

A student who wants to pursue a postgraduate degree in international studies or rural development will have to pay Rs 20,000 while the course fee for journalism and mass communication is now Rs 25,000.

Ravenshaw Bikash Abhiyan, an organisation formed by intellectuals and former students from the university, has condemned the fee hike decision.

"It is a conspiracy to privatise education as the authorities have also increased the postgraduate seats in self-financing mode in various departments including commerce, Hindi, Sanskrit and Odia," said Chita Mohanty, president of Ravenshaw Bikash Abhiyan.

Mohanty said that if the state government was unable to provide higher education at affordable rates, then the organisation, through former Ravenshaw students, would collect donations to meet the expenses of the university.

"The course fee of various postgraduate courses has been hiked by eight to 10 per cent, which is a routine hike to adjust with the expenses incurred by the university. The revised course fee fixed for admissions at Ravenshaw is much lower than the fees of other universities," said vice-chancellor Prakash Sarangi.

Sarangi said there had been no major hike in the admission fee structure since the authorities had merged the examination fees that were collected from students before each semester.