JNU Hostel Students To Not Bear Service, Utility Charges For Winter Semester

The hostel administration said that the hostel residents will not be charged for the services and utility during the current registration for 2020 winter semester.

JNU Campus / Photo: ANI

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing clamour in Jawaharlal University (JNU) over fee-hike, the administration on Thursday announced relief for students from utility and service fee for the winter semester. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has been directed to bear the expense until further orders. The hostel administration said that the hostel residents will not be charged for the services and utility during the current registration for 2020 winter semester. The administration said that the University Grants Commission (UGC), which is a statutory body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), will bear the cost till further orders. "As per the record of discussion held in MHRD on resolving the JNU issue on December 10/11, 2019, UGC will bear the cost of Service and Utility charges proposed till further orders," JNU administration said in a circular issued on Thursday. It said that the administration has already written to the UGC to release the funds towards the service and utility charges in the hostels. "The matter is being pursued at the appropriate level in the UGC," the circular read. The HRD Ministry had last month formed a three-member committee to dispel the tension between the students and the university administration over the fee hike. It is to be noted that the service and utility charge includes electricity and water of hostel, earlier service and Utility charge was  Rs 2000/- per month (including electricity and water charges of Rs 300). The university students have been protesting against the fee hike for over the past two months. The decision comes after the students protesting against the violence on the university campus tried to march towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday after a failed meeting with HRD ministry officials, but were stopped and later detained by police, with some of them receiving injuries as they were roughed up when the cops put them in buses and autorickshaws.