JNU administration hikes the hostel, mess and security fee by close to 400%

• Students of India’s premier Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have taken to the streets, holding placards to protest against massive fee hike, dress code restrictions and hostel curfews.
  
• The institute’s administration hiked the hostel, mess and security fee by close to 400%.
  
• The student body called for a boycott of the convocation and demanded the rollback of the hostel draft manual and fee hike proposed by the administration.

Hundreds of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students have taken to the streets, holding placards in protest. They are rallying against a fee hike, dress code and hostel curfews that the top university has now mandated. According to the student union, the institute raised the hostel, mess and security fee by a massive 400%.

The university administration hiked the hostel mess security fee from ₹5,500 to ₹12,000, adding a service charge worth ₹1,700. It also increased the charges of a single room from ₹20 to ₹600 per month and to ₹300 for a double bed room which is to be shared.

That accounts for an annual fee hike of almost ₹3,000 per student. That is a pain point for university students where “majority of students come from the most marginalized backgrounds in this country,” News18 reported.

Added to this, hostel curfews and a dress code also did not resonate well with the students.

The protest coincides with the institute’s third convocation ceremony. The student body called for a boycott as they demand a rollback of the rules and the fee hike. They also intend to marching towards the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in Vasant Kunj, Delhi.

Delhi police used water cannons to disperse the students as they tried to cross the barricades to meet the vice chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar. The VC repeatedly rejected the request to meet and discuss the issues.

"While we were paying ₹2,500 a month earlier, we will now have to pay ₹7,000. We are compelled to protest because our issues have not been addressed,” JNU students told NDTV.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' met the students and reassured them.

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