Ludhiana: Days before exam, students of PU-affiliated colleges dash to deposit fee
Though the university had set May 25 as the last date for depositing the fee, the deadline was extended till June 1, without late fee, for the benefit of such students. A majority of the students, who have not paid their fee until now, said that there are financial constraints at home due to the pandemic
With just five days to go before final exams commence at Panjab University (PU) and its affiliated colleges, students, instead of preparing for exams, are making a last-minute dash to their institutes to deposit the examination fee. Reason: Students who have not deposited the fee will not be allowed to appear in the exams, starting June 28.
Though the university had set May 25 as the last date for depositing the fee, the deadline was extended till June 1, without late fee, for the benefit of such students.
A majority of the students, who have not paid their fee until now, said that there are financial constraints at home due to the pandemic. There were also a few students who said that they were unaware that they had to pay the college examination fee as the same was not communicated them during online classes.
At Satish Chander Dhawan Government College, over 200 students of different classes have not deposited the examination fee. College authorities stated that they had sent several reminders to the students to deposit the fee and then displayed the list of students who had not paid the examination fee on the notice board of the college. For the last one week, many students have been making rounds of the college to get the late fee charges waived. The college principal has stated that this can be done by the university and they have given enough time to students to deposit the examination fee.
Over 20 students of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Commerce, BSc first and second year visited the college and were guided to visit the university to get the late fee charges waived off. After depositing the examination fee and getting approval from the varsity, the students can appear in the online exam.
Gurjant Singh, a BA second semester student, said, “My father drives a school bus and is out of work for the last year and a half. Besides, the college has been closed since then. I was not aware of the last date of fee deposit and my father was trying to arrange the fee amount. But with the late payment charges, I now have to pay ₹22,000. I will visit the university tomorrow to request them to waive the late payment charges.”
Amandeep Singh, a BSc second semester student, said, “Due to financial issues at home, I was unable to deposit the fee and now I have been asked to pay the fee with late payment charges which will cost ₹24,000. Due to Covid-19 crisis, my parents were unable to deposit ₹1,500 earlier and now it is not possible to pay the fee with late payment charges. I will not be allowed to sit in the final exam.”
College principal Gurpreet Kaur, said, “We had informed the students to deposit the examination fee. Repeated reminders were sent but despite that, many of them have not deposited the fee. We have sent a letter to the varsity and recommended the names of the students for fee waiver.”
At Government College for Girls, over 55 to 60 students have not deposited the examination fee. As per the college authorities, messages were sent to students every week to deposit the examination fee. Sukhwinder Kaur, principal, said, “We have given enough time to students to deposit the fee and several reminders were also given. This shows the students’ non-serious attitude.”
