JNU VC feels vindicated as 82 percent of students paid hostel fee

JNUSU has been protesting the fee hike since October 28, 2019, against the fee hike and revised hostel manual.

In an apparent indication of strict action against the students who have not completed their registration process for the ensuing Winter Semester, JNU Vice-Chancellor Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar on Monday announced that about 82 percent of the 8500 students of the university have paid the revised hostel charges.

Kumar has been reiterating on various forums that after the reduction in hostel charges, only a 'small fraction' of students were protesting the increase in hostel fees. The students were given the last opportunity on January 17 to complete the registration process without the late fine. According to the university administration 82 percent of 8500 students registered without paying the late fine. The late fine has been enforced from Monday, January 20. The students will be charged Rs 100 per day as of late fine for the next seven days which will be gradually increased to Rs 200 per day and Rs 500 per day. There shall be no admission after February 9, said the administration in a circular. However, the VC has been empowered to grant permission for special circumstances.

The high number of registration of students in the Winter Semester has come as a huge respite for the Vice-Chancellor and for the entire JNU administration have been facing criticism from almost all the quarters but the government. JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) and JNU Teachers' Union (JNUTA) have been demanding the removal and sacking of the VC since January 5 violence on the campus.

Though it cannot be denied that those registered for the next semester may have done so for the sake of their carrier, but the remaining 18 percent about 1500 students have become vulnerable to administrative action. "Those have not registered mostly belong to School of Social Sciences (SSS), School of Arts and Aesthetics and School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies. Almost 100 percent in biotechnology, computer, engineering, management, environment, physical science, and Sanskrit have completed registrations," said a faculty in JNU.

JNUSU has been protesting the fee hike since October 28, 2019, against the fee hike and revised hostel manual. In this period, the university administration has dropped the controversial provisions of dress code, hostel code and revised fee for two times. As per a settlement, the University Grants Commission (UGC) agreed to bear the financial burden in lieu of 'utility and service charges.

However, the students have been demanding rollback of the hostel fee hike alleging the administration was following a trick of increasing too much and then revising it on the name of compromise. JNUSU is also considering challenging the fee hike in Delhi High Court.