JNU partially rolls back fee hike
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With this new fee structure, the administration is trying to mislead students. We have been saying from day one that there should not be two fee structures on campus. Our protest will continue.
SATISH YADAV, JNUSU gen secy
NEWDELHI: Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Wednesday partially revoked the hiked hostel fee for students from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. It also revoked the clauses citing curfew timing of 11:30 pm and ‘appropriate’ dress code for students from the new hostel manual.
JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) members, however, said the partial roll-back was merely a gimmick and vowed to continue their protests. Students in JNU from different ideological backgrounds have been protesting against ‘sweeping’ changes to the new hostel manual for the last three weeks. Members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) protested the fee hike by marching to the University Grants Commission on Wednesday.
On Monday, around 1,500 students had gathered outside AICTE building, the venue of the university’s third convocation, and shouted slogans against the changes in hostel rules. The protesters had refused to let guest of honour and Union Human Resources Development minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and vice chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar and other dignitaries leave for several hours.
The decision to revoke the fee hike was taken at the university’s 283rd Executive Council (EC) meeting on Wednesday amid high drama.
The monthly rent for single occupancy and double occupancy rooms will hence continue to remain ₹600 and ₹300, respectively, for all students having Junior Research Fellow (JRF), Senior Research Fellow (SRF) and equivalent fellowships or scholarships. Students who are from BPL category will have to pay half this amount.
JNU registrar Pramod Kumar explained that all students from BPL category — excluding those who have JRF, SRF and other equivalent fellowships or scholarships — will be eligible for a 50% fee concession. BPL students receiving non-NET fellowship and merit-cum-means scholarships, which range between ₹5,000 and ₹8,000, will also be eligible for the concession.
“The service charge will vary from hostel to hostel. Each hostel will divide the entire monthly charge among the total number of students it accommodates. BPL student will be given 50% concession on that as well,” the registrar said.
Kumar said that the new fee structure will come into force from the 2020-21 academic session. “We will follow the Central government’s standards according to which student will be eligible to avail concession under BPL category. There will be enough time for students to get their certificates in order by the next academic session,” he said.
JNU students’ union (JNUSU) members, however, said the partial rollback was a gimmick.
“The university got the news [of fee roll back] out through the MHRD. This shows they (the JNU administration) have lost all credibility. The administration is trying to mislead students. We have been saying from day one that there should not be two fee structures on campus. Our protest will continue.” said Satish Chandra Yadav, JNUSU general secretary.
On Wednesday, students also painted walls and floors of the admin building with slogans against the current administration and put soot on their names. Amid chants of “freedom to study”, students also hung banners denouncing the fee hike and calling for removal of the vice chancellor. Different corners of the admin block, including the entrance to offices of JNU administration, were filled with slogans condemning privatisation of education and demanding free education for all. In July, the administration had prohibited pasting of posters and banners on walls within campus.
Three elected representatives of the Executive Council, the university’s highest decision-making body, also questioned the legality of decisions taken during Wednesday’s meeting because five EC members were not present. The three members — Moushumi Basu, Sachidanand Sinha, and Baviskar Sharad Pralhad — said in a statement, “We were deprived of their right to participate in the deliberations of the Executive Council on important matters concerning the university.”
University Vice chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar appealed to students to call off their protests. “Major concessions have been given to students belonging to BPL category and clauses related to dressing and hostel timings have been removed from the hostel manual as per feedback from the students,” he said.