The students of the Rajasthan Central University have been asked to pay for their semester fees before they come back to campus from the COVID-enforced closure - and they are not happy about it. While the students wrote letters to everyone from the Vice-Chancellor to the MHRD in vain, the VC, Dr Arun K Pujari, assured us that if any student is unable to pay the fees, the university will help out and students will never lose out on their studies. He also said that after the payments were made cashless the university has been following this rule of collecting the fees in advance and this is not something new.
Dr Pujari said that the university like other years has put out the notification for the students to pay the fees. "This is not out of the ordinary. Every semester we ask the students to pay the fees before they come to join us because it makes the processes very easy. We can get the courses planned, identity cards printed and hostel rooms prepared before the come on campus," said the VC. "This year it might start late the semester will start and when it does we need to figure out how to maintain social distancing in classrooms and if we have the total number of enrolled students it just makes it easier for us. Moreover, the classes are on. So there is no reason why the students should not pay the fees. We are obviously not charging the mess fees," he added.
The pandemic and the resultant lockdown has left many Indians without employment and at a time like this asking for fees in advance did not go down well with the students. But the VC said that they will not let any student lose out on their studies. "If they cannot pay we will find a sponsor, help them in as many ways possible, waive off parts of their fees. But that does not mean that we can waive it off for everyone. That can not be the general rule," he added.
But the students said that they did not understand why they should have to pay for the full fees like any other semester when the university is only conducting online classes. "The labs and libraries are not being used but they want to pay for all these miscellaneous expenses which account for more than the tuition fee. If the argument is that the classes are on and that's why we need to pay then we should only be paying the tuition fees. Which is nominal," said Sunil Chopra, a PhD scholar at the university. "At a time when IITs and IIMs are not asking for fees why is the Rajasthan Central University trying to follow their old directive? Why not wait for the UGC or MHRD to come out with a circular about fees," he added.
An alumnus called Mukesh Kharwal, in a bid to help the students has also approached the concerned MP, Bhagirath Chaudhury from Ajmer, for help.
