New Delhi: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), on Wednesday announced a partial rollback in hostel fee hike in face of massive protest by students.
The executive council of JNU, which met outside the campus on Wednesday, fearing unrest, took the decision and conveyed the developments to the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry.
The contentious utility charges, introduced for the first time, has, however, not been repealed.
The HRD Secretary R Subramanian confirmed the University’s decision to the media. The HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had assured the students earlier to look into their issues and arrive at a decision soon.
Talking to Education Bytes, Avdesh Kumar, one of the agitating students, said they will not end their protest till a complete rollback is announced. “What has been announced today is like cracking a poor joke on us”, he said.
The university in a statement said the rollback will only apply to BPL students (BPL students getting scholarships and fellowships not included). It removed the provisions of dress code and curfew timings from the hostel manual.
The partial rollback: (Eligible BPL students)
Rent for a double-seater room, which was hiked to Rs 300 per month from Rs 10 per month, has now been reduced to Rs 150 per month.
Rent for a single-seater room, which was hiked to Rs 600 per month from Rs 20 per month earlier, has been reduced to Rs 300 per month.
Refundable mess security has been rolled back from Rs 12000 to Rs 5500 across all categories. Special assistance for students coming from economically weaker sections.
The university witnessed unprecedented scenes on Monday, during the convocation function, when hundreds of students laid siege of the campus, clashed with the police and shouted slogans against the university administration, demanding rollback in the fee hike, a clampdown on movement during night hours and implementation of dress code. The protest has stretched to more than two weeks now.