'Only Cosmetic Changes': JNU Teachers & Students Unimpressed By Partial Fee Hike Rollback

The students' union has been on a strike against the draft hostel manual, approved by the Inter-Hall administration, which it claims has provisions for hostel fee hike, dress code and curfew timings.

New Delhi: Police personnel use water cannon to disperse students of Jawaharlal Nehru University protesting against the administration's 'anti-students' policy, in New Delhi, Monday, Nov. 11, 2019. Students wanted to march towards the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), where Vice President Venkaiah Naidu was addressing the university's convocation at an auditorium. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi:  Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) authorities on Wednesday ordered a partial rollback of hostel fee hike. The decision was taken in varsity's Executive Council meeting, informed Human Resource Development (HRD) officials. "JNU Executive Committee announces major rollback in the hostel fee and other stipulations. Also proposes a scheme for economic assistance to the EWS students. Time to get back to classes," HRD Secretary R Subrahmanyam tweeted.

#JNU Executive Committee announces major roll-back in the hostel fee and other stipulations. Also proposes a scheme for economic assistance to the EWS students. Time to get back to classes. @HRDMinistry

— R. Subrahmanyam (@subrahyd) November 13, 2019

The JNU students' union (JNUSU) said it will continue its struggle till the time the hostel manual is not discussed with them and made official."This is the victory of students, the university and all those who aspire to come to JNU to study. However, our protest will continue until the JNU administration issues a notice confirming it has rolled-back the hostel fee hike," said an ABVP activist. A representative of the JNU Teachers' Association (JNUTA) told news agency PTI,"We will issue a statement when we have clear information. If the reports are to be believed, there is a no rollback but only cosmetic changes have been made." Earlier this morning, a protest by students forced the JNU administration to shift the venue of a crucial meeting of its Executive Council convened for discussing the new draft hostel manual among other important issues. Reports say the students had also planned to "occupy" the administration block of varsity, popularly known as the 'Pink Palace'. On Monday, thousands of JNU students clashed with the police which used water-cannons. The incident had left Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' confined in the Varsity for over five hours. He was there for the university's convocation. The students have been vociferously demanding withdrawal of the draft hostel manual, in which service charges of Rs 1,700 were introduced and the one-time mess security fee, which is refundable, has reportedly been hiked from Rs 5,500 to Rs 12,000. For a single-seater room, the rent has been increased from Rs 20 per month to Rs 600 per month, where as the rent for a double-seater room has been hiked from Rs 10 to Rs 300 per month. The protesting students have argued that the fee hike will come as a body blow for poor and underprivileged students.