The move of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to make e-journal mandatory for all professional colleges has drawn criticism from the management of colleges here in the state.

The management bodies of these institutes are planning to challenge the decision of the AICTE making it mandatory for colleges to have e-journals. This was a condition for granting approval. A college management association said the AICTE has also in its guidelines given the names of the firms with which they have to register themselves.

A principal of a college said that to register with the firms, one will have to pay Rs six lakh for one college. If the management was running an MBA, MCA and an Engineering college, they would be required to pay Rs 18 lakh for just registration.

The principal said that this would put additional burden on colleges and will force the management to increase the fees of each student. "In an undergraduate college, students are rarely into research. Maximum research activities are done at postgraduate levels and hence the e-journal should be made compulsory for such colleges and not at the undergraduate levels."

"The move has been challenged in the Delhi high court and the court has also stayed the implementation and hence we are planning to move court here also." he said.