JNUSU stages massive protest outside campus over fee hike

Jawaharlal Nehru University students have been on a strike against the draft manual which states hike in hostel fee rates  

New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) on Monday carried out a massive protest rally outside the campus against the fee hike in the new hostel manual which also includes provisions on dress code and curfew timings.

Hundreds of JNU students were seen carrying out a march from Freedom Square to AICTE Auditorium with banners against the 'massive fee hike'. "We have been protesting for over 15 days, but the vice-chancellor is not willing to talk to us. The fee has been hiked in the university. Around 40% of the students here come from very poor families," one of the protesting students told ANI.

Another student said that the university is subsidised so that the poor can also study here. "How will a poor student be able to study here if the hostel fee is over Rs 6,000 to 7,000?" the student asked.

Meanwhile, the police were seen requesting students to keep their protest peaceful.

"You are resorting to violence. Please keep your protest peaceful," a police official was seen telling the protesters as a group of students dragged a police barricade.

The students were protesting even as vice president M Venkaiah Naidu was attending a convocation ceremony at the university.

The JNUSU has been protesting for around two weeks against the new hostel manual.

JNU vice-chancellor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar had on November 8 alleged that some students had kept associate dean Dr Vandana Mishra in illegal captivity as part of their protest.

According to JNUSU president Aishe Singh, the hostel fees have been increased and curfew and dress restrictions have been introduced in the university.

As the protests raged, Delhi Police used water cannons to disperse protesters from JNU.

In its latest orders, the JNU administration massively hiked the hostel, mess and security fees by a reported 40%. It has also limited the hostel timings.

Protests by JNU students over hostel-fee hike became violent as the protesting students clashed with the police and security personnel who were deployed at the AICTE auditorium in Vasant Kunj. The students broke barricades and raised slogans with placards in their hands, calling Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar a “thief", police used water cannons to disperse the students. Extra force was deployed to control the raging students.