Students of Allahabad University are protesting against the gigantic 400% fee hike which the authorities approved on August 31. On Monday, a distraught protesting student was rescued by the Prayagraj police officials from setting himself ablaze.
The executive council of Allahabad University approved the decision of fee hike in a meeting which was chaired by the vice-chancellor Prof Sangita Srivastava. The fee hike would be effective from the session 2022-23.
In a report by the Hindustan Times, Srivastava defended the decision by saying, “The fee per month at AU for the past 110 years has been Rs 12. In order to pay running costs of electricity bills and other maintenance, the fee was due to be enhanced for the past number of years. The private institutions are now the major players and they charge exorbitant fees.”
The 400% massive hike led to agitations among the students who demanded an immediate rollback of the decision. On Monday, students from various courses gathered and shouted slogans against the university.
According to the students, with soaring price rise and many with socio-economic backgrounds, such a hike is unacceptable.
They have three demands. Firstly, the rollback of the recently announced 400% fee hike by the university authorities, secondly a 50% reduction in fees for batch 2022-2033 and lastly, the return of the fees paid during the COVID-19 pandemic as earlier ordered by the University Grant Commission (UGC).
Harendra Yadav, one of the protesting students, said, “We have been protesting for 10 days and are on a fast unto death for seven days. Five students have been hospitalised after their health deteriorated. Yet we have not got any positive response from the university administration. This shows the university’s callous attitude.”
Political support
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has backed the agitating students and said that this was yet another example of the anti-youth policies of the BJP government.
Calling student unions a “primary part of democracy”, Akhilesh said the university’s treatment of the protesting students “is a symbol of hopelessness from the BJP government”.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has also supported the students’ demand and said that the government should immediately rollback the hike.
(With IANS inputs)
