No exam fee for college students from Maharashtra's 304 drought-hit talukas: what the government resolution says, how refunds work and where each university stands

College students from Maharashtra's drought-hit talukas will not pay the fee for the November-December university exams, and those who have already paid are to get it back from their university or college. The waiver on school and college exam fees is one of 12 concessions the Relief and Rehabilitation Department announced for drought talukas, and it now covers 304 talukas. It applies to degree, diploma and postgraduate students as well as those in professional courses such as engineering.

The decision at a glance

• Who: college students from the 304 talukas declared drought-hit
• Which exams: the first-semester (winter) exams in November-December
• What is waived: the exam fee only; the Directorate of Higher Education has said tuition fees are not covered
• How to apply: the 'zero challan' (zero fee) option on the exam form
• Fees already paid: universities and colleges must refund them
• If colleges flout it: Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil has warned of action
• Class 10 and 12: the board exam fee waiver is covered in our separate story (link below)

How the government resolution works

The drought declaration and its concessions come from the Relief and Rehabilitation Department. Each department then issues its own order to deliver the concession in its area. For exam fees the sequence has been:

• 25 September 2026: Relief and Rehabilitation Department resolution No. Samiti-2026/PK 82/Madat-2. Based on the June-September rainfall deficit and other factors, it applied 'Trigger 1' in 265 of the state's 358 talukas, declared drought conditions and brought in 12 concessions.
• 9 October: ground verification approved in 18 more talukas under the Drought Management Manual 2016, checking satellite data against field conditions with a 20% survey of the five main crops.
• 14 October: a new resolution and a corrigendum under the same number. A total of 304 talukas where Trigger 1 or Trigger 2 applies were finally declared drought-hit, and all 12 concessions extend to the 39 new talukas.
• Higher and Technical Education Department: a circular from the Directorate of Higher Education, followed by each university's own circular.

The 12 concessions include a land revenue waiver, restructuring of crop loans, a freeze on recovery of farm loans, relief on current farm pump power bills, the exam fee waiver, relaxed job guarantee norms, water tankers where needed, no power cuts for farm pumps in villages declared water-scarce, food grain supply, fodder and water conservation works. Compensation for crop losses will come through a separate resolution after field assessments.

Which talukas?

Of the first 265 talukas, 74 are in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division, 56 in Amravati, 49 in Nashik, 39 in Nagpur, 35 in Pune and 12 in Konkan. Every taluka in the eight Marathwada districts is on the list, as are all talukas of Amravati, Akola, Buldhana, Washim, Yavatmal, Jalgaon, Dhule, Nandurbar, Ahilyanagar, Solapur and Nagpur districts. No taluka in Mumbai or Thane district is listed. The 39 talukas added on 14 October:

• Palghar: Jawhar, Mokhada, Talasari
• Ratnagiri: Lanja, Mandangad, Khed
• Nashik: Trimbakeshwar, Chandwad, Niphad
• Pune: Ambegaon, Junnar
• Satara: Patan, Jawali, Wai, Koregaon, Karad
• Sangli: Shirala, Walwa, Khanapur, Tasgaon, Kadegaon, Palus
• Kolhapur: Shahuwadi, Shirol
• Nanded: Mudkhed, Mukhed
• Wardha: Karanja
• Bhandara: Mohadi, Tumsar
• Gondia: Amgaon, Deori, Salekasa, Gondia, Arjuni Morgaon, Sadak Arjuni, Goregaon
• Chandrapur: Jiwati, Brahmapuri, Ballarpur

Some reports put the additions at 40 and the total at 305. The Food and Civil Supplies Department's resolution of 22 October and the government's release on Mahasamvad both give the total as 304.

What universities have been told

At an online meeting with vice-chancellors on 1 October, Mr Patil told every university to set up a task force and asked for a separate cell at the Directorate of Higher Education. The work of universities and colleges is to be reviewed every 15 days, and better-off colleges were asked to help colleges and students in the worst-hit areas. On 12 October he ordered action against colleges that charge the fee, and at a meeting on 14 October he said engineering, arts and all other colleges under the department must take exam forms without the fee and refund any fee already collected.

At a press conference on 13 October, Director of Higher Education Dr Shailendra Deolankar said the directorate had set up a cell of six principals from Pune and that university-level committees would monitor the waiver. The instructions were that students should not be charged anything, he said. Careers360 reported that universities may ask for an undertaking that the student has not claimed the Rajarshi Shahu fee reimbursement scheme.

The confusion over conditions

Some universities first set their own conditions. Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University's letter of 4 October set a family income limit of Rs 8 lakh a year and asked for an income certificate, a talathi certificate and a domicile certificate, Pudhari reported. Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University in Nanded asked for proof of residence, the same income limit and an undertaking. After students complained that fees were being collected in places including Yavatmal and Amravati, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said all conditions on the waiver had been removed, Saam TV reported on 14 October. Check your university's latest circular.

Where each university stands

By 19 October, 2,40,365 students at 26 universities had filed exam forms at zero fee, according to the Directorate of Higher Education. With exam forms due by 30 October, the department expects the number to pass five lakh. The university-wise picture, as reported by IANS and eSakal:

• Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University: 78,689 beneficiaries
• SNDT Women's University: 66,431
• Savitribai Phule Pune University: about 65,200; colleges must enter details of students who had already paid on the university's examinward portal
• University of Mumbai: 46,575; refunds of about Rs 3.25 crore under way
• Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Solapur University: 12,367
• Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University: 7,500 forms by 4 pm on 19 October, with a target of 10,500 by that night
• Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University: zero challan facility started
• Shivaji University, Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University and Kavayitri Bahinabai Chaudhari North Maharashtra University: refunds being processed
• COEP Technological University and Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth: refunds begun

The five university figures in the IANS report add up to more than the state total, and the report does not explain why, so treat them as approximate.

What students should do

• First check that the taluka where you live is among the 304.
• When filling the exam form, ask your college to mark you as drought-affected. Once it does, the exam fee drops to zero and a zero challan is generated.
• If you have already paid, keep the receipt and give your name to the college exam section for a refund. The college passes the details to the university.
• Keep your domicile certificate, Aadhaar and admission receipt handy; some colleges may ask for an undertaking.
• Finish this before the form deadline of 30 October, and check your own university's exact date in its circular.
• If a college still asks for the fee, complain to the university's examination board, its student development department or its task force. The Directorate of Higher Education also has a complaints cell.
• The waiver covers exam fees only; there is no decision on annual tuition fees.

Also read: Maharashtra SSC, HSC exams 2027: dates, form deadline and the fee waiver in drought talukas

Sources: Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department, government resolution, 22 October 2026 (304 talukas; cites the 25 September and 14 October resolutions); Mahasamvad: drought in 265 talukas (26 September); Mahasamvad: university task forces (1 October); Mahasamvad: ground verification in 18 more talukas (9 October); Mahasamvad: action against colleges that charge fees (12 October); Mahasamvad: refund fees already collected (14 October); Mahasamvad: 304 talukas declared drought-hit (14 October); eSakal (Pune); Daijiworld (IANS); Sarkarnama; Pudhari (Amravati University); Saam TV; eSakal (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar); Careers360 (Directorate of Higher Education); Careers360 (Nanded university)