IITGN hikes its summer hostel rent by 87 per cent at the height of the pandemic. Withhold hike until the economy revives, students ask

IIT Gandhinagar is currently facing flak from students for hiking its hostel rent for the summer term by 87 per cent, during the pandemic. While the students had paid Rs 4,000 as the hostel rent for the summer term until 2020, they were asked to pay Rs 175 per day to stay in the hostel during the summer term of 2021. The last day to pay the hostel rent was May 15. The researchers who are staying at the campus currently are also believed to be affected by the hike. 

Protesting against the move, the students had written to the institute's Dean of Student Affairs Sivapriya Kirubakaran, asking the IIT to withhold the fee hike until the economy revives. A PhD student who did not wish to be named told EdexLive that while the decision to hike the hostel rent was taken in 2019, none of the students expected it to be implemented during the middle of the pandemic. "It is unfair to have it implemented right now. The country is struggling with a pandemic and an economic crisis. A lot of students do not have the means to pay this," he says. An email informing the students about the same was sent on February 8.

The students have also asked the administration to extend the deadline to pay the fees and show reasons for hikes in the future. They also say that the hike in fees should be commensurate to the inflation in the economy. "We believe that these uproar of students are due to repeated fee hikes and the Institute not providing enough accountability for that," reads an email from the students to the administration. "Apart from the fees, the living expenses in the campus itself are extremely high even for the middle class. This jeopardises access to education for many sections of students," it says. The documents accessed by EdexLive show that despite the pandemic, the institute has also hiked its mess fees by Rs 2000.

We have written to the IIT seeking a reason for the hikes. This copy will be updated once they respond.