After JNU, students of AIIMS, IIMC protest against fee hike
New Delhi: The issue of fee hike has not only gripped Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) but has now spread across institutes like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) as well. While JNU has been protesting over the hike in hostel fee for over a month, AIIMS has followed suit with Resident Doctor's Association (RDA) writing to the institute's administration against hiking the tuition fee and raising user charges for patients.
In a circular dated November 20, Central Institute Body (CIB) said that it has decided to review the tuition fees of students and also fix uniform charges for patients in all AIIMS. This was decided by CIB of six AIIMS, including AIIMS, Delhi. Speaking to Millennium Post RDA President Dr. Amarinder Singh Malhi said, "No decision has been taken by the authority yet, they have just mentioned that they are reviewing the fee structure. We can't allow that to happen."
In an official statement, RDA said, "We earnestly hope that our policymakers shall try to build trust and faith in our citizens while discharging their constitutional responsibilities," added the statement.
While no particular detail has been given by the administration regarding the fee hike, however in its circular AIIMS admin mentioned that 'user charges' is an important component of the non-tax revenues. The circular has asked all departments to ensure that user charges recover the current cost of providing services with a reasonable return on capital investment. "The rates of user charges should be linked with appropriate price indices and reviewed at least every three years," said the circular.
Meanwhile, JNU Teachers' Association on Wednesday went on one day's hunger strike to protest against the fee hike issue and Ministry of Human Resource Development's (MHRD) delay in releasing the three-member committee report. While, on the other hand, JNU administration has taken out a circular warning the students "about the consequences of not completing academic assignments and tests, including end-semester examinations, as per the relevant academic ordinances and rules."
"This is also to remind the research scholars that the M. Phil students who fail to secure a CGPA of 5.00 on completion of course work at the end of 2nd semester will find their names automatically removed from the roll list of the university," read circular. Calling it a way to intimidate students JNU Students' Union Vice President told Millennium Post, "We are going ahead with our plan to continue the strike and admin has been sending such circulars for quite some time. Instead of intervening and resolving the situation, they are continuously threatening the students."
Following this, students at IIMC have been protesting against the fee hike inside the campus. According to former alumni of the university, the fee for a course in Radio and TV Journalism is Rs 1,68,500, for Advertising and PR it is Rs 1,31,500, while for Hindi and English Journalism it has increased to Rs 95,500 and Rs 55,500 for Urdu Journalism. Hostel and mess charges have also been increased.
