Colleges told not to charge ‘union fee’

Kolkata: The state higher education department has issued an order mandating that colleges must not charge students in the name of 'union fee’. The Calcutta High Court passed an order on July 7 in this regard.

College principals have received Google Forms from the higher education department with multiple questions to answer. Many colleges whose websites still feature a 'union fee' have started internal discussions to remove it. The notice instructed that funds already collected for this purpose should be kept secure in a separate interest-bearing account and must not be utilised or disbursed until further orders or until a studentsu Union is duly elected.

The notice also asked all colleges and universities to conduct an audit of all expenditure, stating: “...all incurred from the said fee heads since the date of the last duly held Students’ Union election or since the expiry of the last elected body...” They were asked to submit the audit report to the director of public instruction within 30 days of the issuance of the order, and to send a compliance report to the department within a month detailing the steps taken to stop collection, secure existing funds and related measures.

A college principal from central Kolkata said, “We used to take Rs 300 per year as union fee, which is clearly mentioned on our website. We received the order today, and we need to discuss the matter and take the necessary action to comply with the order.”