ChintaBAR, a student activist collective at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, has written to the Dean of Students (DoS) and the Chairman of the Council of Wardens (CCW) seeking extra time for payment of the hostel fee. As per the collective, DoS and CCW on November 14 sent "an email threatening students to pay the hostel fee dues in three days or their mess registration will be cancelled and they will be made to vacate rooms."

"Surprisingly, the mail also threatens to inform the parents of students regarding non-payment," it further said. Urging the administration to extend the time for the payment, the collective said, "We urge the administration to extend the timeline of hostel fee payment at least till the end of November and demand that no action be taken against any student on late payment of the fee." 

"We call upon the student representatives to actively take this up and represent the interests of the students who elected them," it said.

Other concerns ignored

In its Instagram post posted today, November 15, the collective alleged that the institute has "raised the academic fee and the hostel fees, creating an enormous financial burden for struggling students." Despite protesting against the fee hike, the collective alleges that the administration has ignored it.