Note ban dents engineering, medical admissions

Sources from a private engineering college in the city said that the agents get into the business of booking seats a week before the results are published. “But this time around, the educational institutions are reluctant to accept capitation fees in cash as there are rumours of the new Rs 2,000 notes being demonetised,” he said. 

An administrative head of a medical college in Puducherry said, “The cost of a medical college seat is usually Rs 6080 lakh. Though capitation fee is mostly accepted as cash, demonetisation has hit the business hard. With rumours of the new Rs 2,000 notes being made invalid soon, we are not sure if we should take it.” 

A former agent, who used to sell seats at SRM University, Sathyabhama and Madras Christian College says, “We don’t mind even Rs 100 or Rs 500 notes, as long as the amount is in cash. If there is no other way, we will accept the Rs 2,000 and quickly change it to other denominations.”

Explaining how the agents get to sell the seats he said, “In most colleges, the Head of the Departments will have two seats each reserved for them; these seats come to us. A week before the results are announced, money circulation and advance payments will begin. 

An arts college seat is sold for just Rs 40,000 while engineering seats, which are in high demanded, go for Rs 5-10 lakh depending on the stream. Medical seats are the most profitable at Rs 60-80 lakh per seat and the profit is shared between four or five middlemen.” 

Activist and legal expert S S Balaji said that many educational institutions, particularly deemed universities are now accepting capitation fees in instalments. “They will have a hold on the student. If he fails to pay, his education gets affected. But such issues never come out,” he said. 

Narrating the ordeal she went through to secure an engineering seat for her daughter, an HOD of an arts and science college said, “The agents never reveal their identity and communicate using several phone numbers. To pay the cash, we were made to wait for an unknown person at the college auditorium. Even when he arrived, we were not sure who he was and we could only ask a few questions. The agent took us to an enclosed space where there were a few others. They collected all our electronic gadgets and ensured that we did not carry anything that could record or film the proceedings. Then, the agent wrote the amount on a piece of paper and handed it over to us. When we gave him the money, he did not give a receipt.” 

However, things took a dramatic turn when her daughter got admission through merit quota in a different college and she demanded the capitation fee back. 

“The agents changed their numbers and were unreachable.” Even after implementing National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET), the demand for capitation fees in medical colleges has not come to an end. 

Doctors Association of Social Equality (DASE) Ravindranath said, “Last year in Chennai, two colleges distributed the application form after taking a capitation fee of Rs 65 lakh each from a student. Even though a student who cleared NEET is eligible for the seat, he/she was made to pay the amount. Without capitation fee, you cannot join a college, even on merit. There must be a committee to fix the fee.”