Drought-hit Maharashtra students to get SRTMU exam fee waiver for winter 2026

Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University in Maharashtra's Naded has announced a waiver of examination fees for the current semester for students from drought-affected talukas. The benefit will apply to the winter-2026 exams scheduled in November and December, according to a university release issued on Tuesday.The waiver will be available to eligible regular students studying undergraduate, diploma, postgraduate, professional and non-professional courses at affiliated colleges, as well as at the university’s campuses and sub-centres. Officials said students must meet the prescribed conditions to get the relief.To avail of the fee waiver, students will have to submit proof that they live in a drought-affected taluka and a certificate showing that their family’s annual income does not exceed Rs 8 lakh. They will also have to confirm that they have not received reimbursement of examination fees under any other government educational concession, university officials said.The release said 265 of Maharashtra’s 358 talukas have been declared drought-affected. It said the decision followed an online meeting chaired by the state higher and technical education minister on October 1 to review the drought situation, during which instructions were issued to waive examination fees for eligible students from affected areas. The documents submitted by students will be scrutinised and verified at the college level, and only eligible students will be granted the waiver. Students will also have to submit the prescribed undertaking.The university’s Board of Examinations and Evaluation has asked eligible students to contact their respective colleges with the required documents to avail of the examination fee waiver. - Ends