No relief on 18% GST on coaching fees, budget disappointing: NEET aspirants

NEET aspirants in the coaching hub of Kota in Rajasthan have termed the Budget a “disappointment” as no relief was announced in the 18 per cent GST on coaching fees even as they demanded that education loans should be interest-free.

“Education is a right, there should be no tax on it,” Vaishnavi, a NEET aspirant from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, told news agency PTI.

“If the GST on coaching fees was reduced, it could have relieved financial pressure on our parents but it's a disappointment that no such announcement was made,” she added.

Vaishnavi, however, appreciated the reduction in interest rates on education loans, saying it would help students from poor financial backgrounds.

“The 3 per cent interest reduction on education will be helpful for students who cannot afford to pay high fees,” she said.

Another NEET aspirant, Mahendra Solanki from Rajasthan’s Jodhpur, also expressed dissatisfaction over the Budget’s lower allocation for education and the continued GST on coaching fees.

He echoed Vaishnavi’s sentiments, saying that “education is a right and education loans should be interest-free”. The students said they were expecting some funds to be allocated in the Budget to strengthen examination agencies to ensure fair and scam-free exams but that too did not happen.

Sushil Kumar, a private company employee and parent of a coaching student, termed the Budget “not very fulfilling”. “We expected a lot from the third Budget presented by the Narendra Modi-led government but there is nothing that we can say is very fulfilling. Even the exemption in tax slab is not going to bring any big change. There is no relief for the middle-class in the Budget,” Kumar told PTI.