NCP Protests in Pune Against Minister Chandrakant Patil’s Unfulfilled Promise of Academic Fee Waiver
Pune, 20th June 2024: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Sharad Pawar, staged a protest in Pune today against Maharashtra’s Higher and Technical Education Minister, Chandrakant Patil, over his failure to fulfill the promise of waiving full academic fees for female students from families with an annual income of ₹8 lakh or less.
Activists of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, under the leadership of Pune City chief Prashant Jagtap, gathered at Balgandharva Chowk on Jangli Maharaj Road, raising slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and demanding Chandrakant Patil’s resignation. They held placards with messages such as “triple government, fake government,” and “False promises are thrown away, Maharashtra will teach Mahayuti a lesson.”
Addressing the media, Jagtap criticized Kothrud MLA Patil, stating, “Patil’s announcement was made just before the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections, as a tactic to sway voters in favor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party. This promise has misled female students and their parents. Now, families lack funds for college admissions and are resorting to loans.”
In February, Minister Chandrakant Patil had announced at the Joint Board of Vice-Chancellors (JBVC) meeting that the Maharashtra government had approved a full academic fee waiver for girls from families earning ₹8 lakh or less annually. Scheduled to commence in the 2024-25 academic year, this initiative aimed to benefit over 20 lakh female students across the state.
Currently, the government fully subsidizes tuition fees for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students admitted under reserved quotas in private institutions. For OBC, EBS, and EWS students with family incomes up to ₹8 lakhs, only 50% of tuition fees are reimbursed.
Speaking at an event on Sunday, Patil assured that the government would soon issue an order for free education for girls in the state. The implementation of this order was delayed due to the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections but will be enacted soon, he emphasized.
