During the first half of Monday, the students of Andhra University, Visakhapatnam were busy writing their mid-semester examinations. We were told that almost all of them have exams on Tuesday too. However, instead of being in their rooms or the library, these students will be sitting in front of the university's administration office, protesting against the 50 per cent hike in their college tuition fees.
Inspired by JNU's #FeesMustFall protest, these students have been striking against a 50 per cent hike in their semester fees, for the past six days. The students tell us that their semester fees have been hiked from Rs 800 to Rs 1200 now. "The fees were hiked apparently in July 2019. However, we got to know about this only in January 2020," says Chinnari Lekkala, a PhD scholar. "In July, we had paid Rs 800. Nobody told us about the hike. Now in January, during the registration, we were asked to pay Rs 800 more, Rs 400 for each semester. This is not acceptable," she says.
The students tell us that the deadline to register for the new semester has now been extended from January 30 to February 5. "Apart from this, there is no communication from the administration's end," says Chinnari. "This is what sets us apart from a university like JNU. There, the students are part of the decision making process. However, in universities like ours, we hardly get a response from the administration," she adds.
We have sent an email to the university's Vice-Chancellor seeking comment on this. This copy will be updated once he responds.
