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JNU students celebrate after partial roll-back in the fee hike by the University administration, at the UGC office at ITO in New Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI)[/caption]
New Delhi, Nov. 13 (IANS): After announcing "major rollback" in the hostel fee and other stipulations, it turns out the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration has found a way to not capitulate before protesting students while accepting some of the demands.
In a press statement issued by the university Registrar, the university has kept the room rent same as proposed before and offered 50% relaxation for students from the Below Poverty Line(BPL).
The move came hours after the HRD Secretary R. Subrahmanyam tweeted that the JNU Executive Committee had announced a "major rollback" in the hostel fee structure, giving an impression that the university administration has bowed to the agitating students.
"The JNU Executive Committee announces a major rollback in the hostel fee and other stipulations. (It) also proposes a scheme for economic assistance to the EWS students. Time to get back to classes," the HRD Secretary tweeted amid continuing protest by the students on the university campus.
With the new statement by the administration, it is clear that the rollback has come with certain conditions.
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Police personnel detain a BJP activist marching towards Kolkata Municipal Corporation Headquarters during a protest against the spurt in dengue cases, in Kolkata on Wednesday. (PTI)[/caption]
"...To take care of students coming from weaker sections, the EC decided that all the students belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) category are eligible for 50% concession in the charges at single seated room rent, double seated room rent, utility and service charges," a press release by JNU Registrar said.
The students' category excluded those who are Junior Research Fellows (JRF), Senior Research Fellows (SRF) and have other equivalent fellowships/Scholarships either from outside organisations or JNU.
With the announcement, the students from BPL household will now have to pay INR 300 as room rent for a single occupancy room and INR 150 as room rent for a double occupancy room.
However the administration has made it clear that the one-time mess security deposit (refundable) will stay the same, bringing down the proposed hike from INR 12,000 back to INR 5,500.
Earlier, the charges were hiked from INR 20 to INR 600 for single room occupancy and from INR 10 to INR 300 for double room occupancy. These charges had not been revised for the last about 19 years.
The university also rolled back the alleged 'hostel curfew timings', which was a major bone of contention between the administration and the students.
