The Human Resource Development ministry on Thursday announced that the tuition fee hike ordered for Indian Institute of Technology students will only apply to freshers. The clarification comes a day after student protests began at IIT-Kharagpur. Last week, the ministry had announced a hike in fees, from Rs 90,000 to Rs 2 lakh a year, for both new and current students. Earlier, an IIT panel had cleared a hike to Rs 3 lakh per annum and sent it to the HRD ministry for approval. The 112% hike will now not apply to students already admitted for undergraduate programmes, PTI reported.

HRD minister Smriti Irani earlier also announced a full tuition-fee waiver for SC/ST students and differently-abled students. Students with a family income of less than Rs 5 lakh per annum will also get a 66% concession in fees at IIT, Irani had said.