Students of Pondicherry University are calling out the institute for being "inconsiderate" and "insensitive" all through the COVID-19 pandemic as the varsity is asking for full semester fees this year too.
Pondicherry University Students' Council president, Parichay Yadav, said, "The Pondicherry University has last year also asked for full semester fees despite the pandemic. This is unfair as students haven't been using any of the university facilities since last year."
"Our demand is that the University only demand fees for facilities that students are availing like tuition fees for online classes," Yadav said. "Fees for facilities that students are not even availing need to be completely waived off," he added.
The varsity had charged about Rs 63,000 for an MBA course last year, and this included fees for industrial visits. But Yadav said that this hasn't changed. "Things like industrial visits are not happening this year. It's not possible either. So, it's a very inhumane approach by the university," he said. "The varsity needs to reconsider and revoke such additional fees as soon as possible so it is not an extra burden for students and their families," Yadav added.
The PUSC has submitted a representation to the relevant authorities regarding the issue. The council official statement read, "...At the time of severe unemployment and wage cuts, students cannot afford to pay a huge amount as fees."
It is noteworthy that Puducherry had the highest unemployment rate in the country as of June, 2021, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The unemployment rate in the Union Territory stood at 47.1 per cent against the national average of 9.2 per cent. N K Kumaresan Raja, Head of the Department of Politics and International Studies, Pondicherry University was quoted by a news outlet where he said, “These numbers cause anxiety as even the national average is around 9 per cent. With hardly a population of 14 lakh featuring the highest unemployment rate conveys that except the service sector, all other sectors were neglected..."
The PUSC statement further read, "The pandemic and calamities together have cost us the lives of our loved ones and earning members of the family. When we struggle to make our ends meet, the University cannot ask us to pay a heftynsum."
When asked if there would be a protest in the coming days, Yadav said, "We are waiting for a couple of more days. If the varsity doesn't remove these fees then we have certain other things in mind which we will go ahead with."
