AICTE has directed all affiliated colleges to not demand payment of fee from students during the lockdown period. The Council, which is responsible for planning and development of technical and management education, has said that colleges/institutes should not insist on payment of fee until lockdown is lifted and normalcy is restored in the country.
The Council has released a separate notice for institutes which run PGDM courses and has asked them not to demand payment of fee during the lockdown period. It also asked the institutes which run Post Graduate Diploma in Management or PGDM course not to follow any deadline or timelines specified in Approval Process Handbook (APH) and should be open until the next official communication from AICTE in this regard.
The Council has also stressed on the fact that there will be no delay in salaries of the faculty and staff members for the duration of the lockdown. This comes after reports of some institutions not paying salary to their faculty and staff members. Certain institutes have also terminated the service of some staff members. All such termination will be withdrawn. AICTE has sent a letter in this regard to the respective Chief Secretaries of States and UTs including reimbursement of fees to colleges and institutions.
Another area of concern for the Council during the lockdown is fake news. The Council has said that discouraging of fake news should be the prime responsibility of all stakeholders and that only information published on the official website of MHRD, UGC, and AICTE should be relied upon. Similarly, for government circulars, only the government and ministry websites should be followed.
AICTE has also asked colleges/institutions to share their internet facility with the students of other colleges/institutions in their vicinity. Attendance rules may also be relaxed in areas where good bandwidth is unavailable.
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