The recent proposed fee hikes issued by Osmania University (OU) in Hyderabad had student groups up in arms about it, especially the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who protested outside the university's administrative building on December 7 and were detained by the police. Commenting on the same, Vice-Chancellor Prof D Ravinder said that, "Certain groups with vested interests are intentionally orchestrating these protests while actual students haven't asked a single question."
The VC also questioned why when PG course fees at centrally funded universities are pegged at Rs 30,000 to 40,000, they cannot raise their fees. "They are also public universities, like us. Why is no one questioning them?" he asked. He also assured that all those students from lower-income households who look towards OU for education will still be able to avail the same via the fee reimbursement scheme. But what about the alleged Rs 3,300 crore pending fee reimbursement scheme that is yet to be released by the state government? "That is related to private colleges. Public universities are getting these scholarships regularly. And since the government is offering it, why should we not avail it?" he stated.
Commenting on the same, Vice-Chancellor Prof D Ravinder says that it has been 15 years since OU proposed a fee hike. "Now it is time because the salaries of those who teach self-financed courses have been doubled. A GO (government order) issued by the government stated that the cost needs to be borne internally. Self-finance courses have been going into losses," he says.
Since the pandemic situation has given way to a somewhat normal state of life, the university decided to take the