Director V Ramgopal Rao on Sunday did some plain-speaking on the decision to hike the tuition fee of M.Tech programmes, saying it was a “surgical strike” on “uninterested students”, even as an online petition was started demanding rollback of the decision.

In a long Facebook post, Rao justified the decision, stating that “the freebies” that the 23 institutes were doling out with the tax payers’ money to students needed to stop “at some point”.

“Many students take admission in M.Tech and over 50% of them quit as soon as they find a job,” Rao stated in the post. “Among the remaining, many prepare for other competitive examinations and have no interest in what they are pursuing. Country’s precious resources—IIT seats and government funds—are wasted in such a scenario with no benefit to anyone,” he said.

Rao, citing the high dropout rate (over 50%), argued that students value the jobs that they get after completing B.Tech more than the career they can build with their M.Tech.

“How can we spend tax payers’ money to offer free education to them, when they themselves see no value in such an education,” he asked.

The highest tuition fee for M.Tech programmes, which varies from one IIT to another, is currently fixed at about Rs 62,000 per annum.

After revision of the tuition fee as per the council’s decision, the two-year M. Tech programme at the IITs will cost Rs 2 lakh per annum to students, who are not eligible for any scholarship or fee waiver schemes.

“The IITs are now taking loans from HEFA (Higher Education Financing Agency) for their infrastructure. The IIT Delhi needs to repay something like Rs 580 crores to Canara Bank over the next 10 years. Same is the case with the IIT Bombay and others. There is a great need to increase our internal revenues,” Rao said.

He said the decision for fee hike will be implemented in the IITs over the next three years, assuring that all scholarships and fee waivers will be extended to students.

He also said that M.Tech programmes will be revised to align them with the market requirements.

“Since the programmes will get aligned with market requirements, they will be guaranteed a job and (they) can repay loans. If students are willing to pay 20 lakhs for an MBA degree in an IIM, they can surely pay 4 lakhs for a masters degree in IITs, he added.

With clamour growing among the student community, Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry also stepped in. The ministry, in a statement, said the fee hike will “discourage non-serious students”.

Meanwhile, an online petition at change.org demanding the roll back of the decision was gaining support, with over 38,000 people signing it till Sunday evening.