The students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU,) on the 11th of November, staged a protest against the educational institution regarding a 300 % hike in hostel fees.
The JNU Student Union leaders organised the protest after several attempts to meet Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, the Vice Chancellor of the JNU. The students said they tried to meet Mr. Kumar, but he refused to meet them, due to which they staged the protest.
On the morning of the 11th of November, many students started a protest outside the JNU campus and even tried to head to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in Vasant Kunj. The decision to head to AICTE was made because Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice President of India, was addressing the third convocation ceremony of the institution there.
The police were deployed to control the students and stop them from entering AICTE. One of the students said, “While we were paying Rs. 2,500 a month earlier, we will now have to pay Rs. 7,000 per month. We are compelled to protest because our issues have not been addressed.” The other issues were the hostel timings and the dress code on the campus.
The JNU Student Union said, “The fee hike will affect an overwhelming number of students. It denies those from the deprived sections to avail education if they cannot pay.”
As of now, the police are trying to control the situation and even used water cannons to control the crowd protesting outside the campus.
The students are adamant about not going back until the Vice Chancellor holds talks with them and reduces the hostel fee.
The protest outside the JNU campus is still going on.
Stay tuned for further updates.
