IIT Bombay fee hike: Students continue protests, will go on hunger strike tomorrow, August 6  

Although the India Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay announced on Friday, August 5, that they have reduced Rs 1,800 from the mess advance fee, since the larger demand of rolling back the fee hike is yet to be met, students say they will continue to protest. With regards to the same, they will be carrying out a hunger strike tomorrow, August 6, for a complete roll back of the massive fee hike. 

The hunger strike will begin at 11 am in front of the School of Management (SOM) where five students will sit on a hunger strike and the others are expected to extend their support in large numbers. 

When EdexLive spoke to a PhD student of IIT Bombay, the student said that this is the "smallest thing they (administration) can do. Because the administration corrected an accounting mistake by rolling back Rs 1,800 for Semester Mess Advance," the student added. 

Since a few days back, the administration conceded to another demand of the students, that of having student representatives aboard the Standing Committee for student fee matters, the students remain hopeful that their other demands will be met too.  

These changes have happened in the aftermath of the protests, poster demonstrations, hunger strikes and the recent mass emailing campaign initiated by the IIT Bombay students. The mass emailing campaign began on August 1, wherein, people were urged to scan a QR code, which would take them to a pre-written email which could be then sent to the Board of Governors of IIT Bombay.  

The student stressed that, "The administration is facing a lot of pressure because of mass emailing." More than 200 students sent emails to the Board of Governors seeking roll back of fee hike, the student added. 

To recollect, the protests have been going on for a long time now. Amidst all the demands of the students, the administration accepted that they will be included in the Standing Committee and the mess advance fee has been reduced too. But the students are adamant about the complete roll back of the fee hike. Additionally, other concerns which were pointed out were the increase in the fee for MTech and PhD students.