Jaipur, Feb. 19 -- The state assembly on Wednesday witnessed a heated exchange over the collection of a "Vimarsh Fee" ofRs.1,000 from students in state universities and colleges. Opposition legislators deemed the fee as unlawful and arbitrarily enforced, and demanded recovery of the collected funds. The Vimarsh Fee is charged ostensibly in exchange to academic and examination-related guidance to self-study students through helpdesks, or Vimarsh Centres. Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully and Shahpura MLA Manish Yadav alleged that nearly 2.25 million students across the state were burdened with a fee that collectively amounted to a sum of Rs.223 crore. Yadav demanded a complete expenditure statement- including details of how many Vimarsh centres were set up using the collected funds and how many students received academic counselling. Higher education Prem Chand Bairwa informed the House in his reply that the fee was used for examination-related work. Regarding three specific institutions named by Yadav that levied the fee, he said that Alwar's Raj Rishi Bhartrihari Matsya University collected Rs.22.16 crore between 2018-19, when the fee was first levied, and 2024-25, Mohanlal Sukhadia University in Udaipur collected Rs.43.16 crore between 2020-21 and 2024-25, and the University of Rajasthan collected Rs.156.18 crore between 2017-18 and 2024-25. Yadav pointed out that the government charged examination fees under a separate head. When the minister said that the matter fell under university statutes but did not provide any specific legal reference, Yadav accused the government of contradicting itself by terming the fee both part of examination charges and as a counselling or guidance fee, without presenting clear expenditure details. . Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully asked the minister to cite the statutory provision that permitted the levy, rather than reading out departmental orders. Calling it a gross violation of financial norms, Yadav urged the Governor to intervene, order an independent inquiry, halt the fee and ensure refund to students....