Students' corner

Dear Students,

LAST WEEK WE ASKED: Do you think donations to education institutions should be tax-exempt?

BEST RESPONSE

Donations to educational institutions should be tax-exempt as long as these are utilised for the purpose of fostering knowledge. The scope for these donations is immense, with schools and colleges advancing towards technology-savvy classrooms, initiated by organisations like Educomp and Scholastic, and parents ensuring that their wards are 'facilitated' more than instructed. Even at the post-graduation level, simulations such as Ceteris-Paribus and tools like SPSS require infrastructural support to foster learning. However, donations should be monitored by the Tax Appellate Tribunal.

Aastha Malhotra, IMT Ghaziabad

OTHER RESPONSES

Donations should be tax-exempt to encourage people to donate more. This would directly have an impact on the growth of the country, since education is directly proportional to growth of a country.

Jagdish Dangi, UIT-RGPV, Bhopal

Donations to educational institutions should be exempted from tax, as institutions could use the funds to waive the fees of children from the poorer sections of society. That, in turn, would provide an opportunity for such children to study at good institutions.

Jatin Kashyap, Post Graduate Government College, Chandigarh

Donations should not be exempted from tax as institutes might try to take advantage of this by persuading admission-seekers to pay huge sums of money.

Akash Jaiswal, IBS Mumbai

Donations collected can be tax-exempt if used for advancement of education. Educational trusts taking donations for giving admissions amounts to selling of education. Such trusts should be denied tax exemption.

Devang Sanghavi, IBS Mumbai.

Your responses should reach us at edu@business-standard.com by Monday evening every week. Please ensure your responses do not exceed 100 words. Avoid attachments and email your full name, institute's name, batch and complete mailing address. The student who gives the 'Best Response' will be awarded Rs 500.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Do you think the IITs should devise strategies to better their financial condition, so that their dependence on government grants reduces?