Protests mounted over unreasonable hike in hostel fees for girl students in Delhi University’s (DU) Hindu College. The agitation escalated when senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Monday took to Twitter to ask whether the institution is turning into a “madrassa” saying he has written a letter to the Human Resources Development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar in this regard.
Protest against the Hindu College spurred due to discriminatory fee hike for the girl students. The prospectus for admissions to the hostel triggered an outrage among the girl students who alleged that the rules laid down were “discriminatory” and amounted to “moral policing”.
The prescribed fee also irked the girl students as the male students of Hindu College pay Rs 47,000 as hostel charges while the girls were asked to pay more than Rs 82,000. Further, they will not be allowed to bring in a female guest, who is not a college student, without the warden’s permission. Also, guests will be required to leave the common room by 10.30 pm.
The college has been providing hostel facilities to male students for decades. However, the girls’ hostel, which has been constructed recently, is going to be made functional from the 2016-17 sessions.
Students have been protesting against the alleged discrimination between girls and boys while deciding the rules and the fee for the hostel.The National Commission for Women (NCW) and the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) also took a note of the issue.
Meanwhile, on Monday, a Twitter post of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Twitter fanned the agitation. He posted: “I have written a letter to the HRD Minister objecting to Hindu College DU charging as hostel fees triple from girl students! Become a Madrassa?”