A women’s college in Behala has reduced the fees for the July-to-December semester this year.

Vivekananda College for Women in Barisha in a meeting on Friday decided to charge a subsidised fee as many of its students come from financially-disadvantaged families.

The college will charge Rs 75 a month for BA (honours), Rs 50 a month for BA (general), Rs 110 a month for BSc (honours), Rs 85 a month for BSc (general) and Rs 60 a month for BCom (general) till December.

Principal Soma Bhattacharya said that during admission last year, students had to pay Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 for various courses for six months, even after the fees had been reduced by about 25 per cent.

“There are many applicants who under the circumstances (of job loss and slump in business) would find it difficult to pay even Rs 3,000. We felt that because of that these girls might quit studies.

We, therefore, decided to reduce the fees,” said the principal.

Bhattacharya said that in January many students had sought reduction in fees, in addition to the concession offered. “We realised that existing students could at least approach us but new students might be hesitant to approach,” she added.

The college had a strength of 1,500 odd students.