JNU fee issue sorted, students' protests not justified: HRD Minister

The fee-related matter of JNU has been sorted out following several rounds of discussions with the university student and teacher representatives, said HRD Minister Nishank.

The Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on Monday informed that the issue of the Jawaharlal Nehru University hostel fee hike has been sorted. He asked the JNU students to put an end to the protests as the continuing protests are not justified. This comes three days after the Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare had said that the varsity addressed the basic demands of the students.

“The fee-related matter of JNU has been sorted out following several rounds of discussions with the university student and teacher representatives,” said Nishank. The Ministry had constituted a High-Powered Committee (HPC) to restore the JNU’s normal functioning through dialogue with all the stakeholders and to advise the university administration for resolution of contentious issues. The HRD Minister also said that the students are not being asked to bear the cost of service and utility charges that are proposed for the winter session which was the basic demand of the students. “JNU fee-hike stands resolved and continuation of agitation by the students is no longer justified,” the minister added. Nishank also said that the universities should not be converted into political arenas and appealed to the students to call off their agitation. “As agreed in the meetings, the revised hostel room charges will remain applicable with 50% concession for the BPL students,” he further said.

As many as 5,000 of 8,500 JNU students have registered for the next semester.

Last year, in October, the JNU administration had decided to hike the hostel fee, saying that it hadn’t revised the same for 19 years. Under the new changes, students were to pay a service charge of Rs 1,700 per month. Single room rent was increased from Rs 20 per month to Rs 600 per month and Rs 10 per month to Rs 300 per month was the increment announced for a double-sharing room.
The students protested against the same, demanding complete rollback of the hostel fee hike. However, last month, it was announced that the JNU students may not have to pay service or utility charges as part of their hostel fee.

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