JNU justifies fee hike, claims it has Rs. 45cr debt
As students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) continue protests over a proposed fee hike, the varsity has defended the hike claiming it has a deficit of Rs. 45 crore. In a statement on Thursday, JNU claimed there is a misinformation campaign alleging a massive hostel fee hike, adding that to sustain the university, the fee hike is necessary. Here are more details.
In its statement, JNU noted that the Rs. 45 crore deficit is due to huge electricity and water charges and the contractual staff's salary. The varsity said it is failing to pay 450 contractual employees since, as per University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations, they are no longer allowed to pay hostel staff from the salary head of the budget.
JNU stated, "The UGC has given clear instructions to JNU that all shortfalls in the non-salary expenditures should be met by using the internal receipts generated by the University. Thus, there is no alternative for the IHA than to collect service charges from the students."
Speaking on the "propaganda" that the fee hike adversely affects poor students, JNU noted, "Out of around 6,000 students who are residing in the hostels, 5,371 students receive financial assistance in the form of fellowships and scholarships." "The admission fee in the JNU has been minimal for decades and no revision has taken place for more than four decades," the university added.
As per preliminary estimates, for a general category student, the revised hostel charges would reportedly be Rs. 4,500 per month, inclusive of the Rs. 2,300 per month charge for food. "The below poverty line category students have to pay only 50% of the remaining amount of Rs. 2,200. Therefore, a BPL category student has to pay approximately Rs 3,400 per month," JNU said.
"In reality, service charges are being levied, which have been zero so far. For sustainability of the university budget which has run into a huge deficit, it is necessary to levy the service charges in the hostel," the university said.
Meanwhile, the JNU Teachers' Association Thursday met the Human Resource Development Ministry's appointed high-powered committee, demanding a complete rollback of the fee hike, Hindustan Times reported. Thirteen JNUTA executive committee members submitted a memorandum to the committee, alleging "financial mismanagement and wasteful expenditure." The teacher's body said there's no urgent cause for the fee hike, adding there's no explanation for the "sudden financial crisis."
The JNU fee hike issue picked steam after Monday's protests resulted in a clash between students and police personnel. Two FIRs were registered against unknown protestors under multiple charges. Despite a partial fee rollback, the students continued protests. Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP KK Ragesh also raised the matter in Parliament on Friday, seeking a judicial probe into police's action against agitating students.
