Protests against the hike in fees continue at Allahabad University as students are demanding that the fee hike be withdrawn and now, have threatened to expand their agitation. This was announced after talks with the administration of the university, which were conducted on Tuesday, October 4, did not bear any fruit, as stated in a report by PTI.
The meeting between the administration of the university and the student unions, which lasted over two and a half hours, was about the fee hike. It was a "complete failure", students' union Vice-President Akhilesh Yadav said after the meeting concluded.
Twenty students were part of the talks but Vice-Chancellor Sangeeta Srivastava was not part of the meeting, Akhilesh Yadav informed.
The two demands of the Allahabad University students
Withdrawal of 300% fee hike and restoration of the students' union — were the two demands put forth by the students. Yadav informed that there has been no assurance from the university's side regarding either of the two demands.
"Now, we will expand the nature of the movement and take it to other universities as well," he added.
Jaya Kapoor, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the university, informed that the stand of the university on both the demands of the students was already clarified, justifying the fee hike as well as the matter regarding the students' union, which is under the high court's consideration and hence, no decision can be taken on this.
The PRO also reiterated that no meritorious poor student will be denied that chance of availing education at the university, as was made clear by the VC. Plus, the PRO added that a committee will be constituted to take a decision regarding all such students.
Yadav said the district magistrate, the divisional commissioner, the inspector general of police (IG) and the senior superintendent of police (SSP) were not present during the talks on behalf of the district administration. Only the city magistrate, the superintendent of police (city) and the circle officer participated in the meeting on behalf of the district administration.
Registrar Anamika Rai, Deputy Registrar and the Chief Proctor were present on behalf of the university.
How did the students and university decide to hold talks?
The district administration had called for a meeting with the protesting students at the collectorate on Sunday, October 2, to resolve the deadlock.
During the meeting, it was decided that talks between the students and the university administration will be held on Tuesday, October 4.
Hike in perspective
The students have been agitating against the fee hike for almost a month. The fees for undergraduate courses in the university were Rs 975 per annum. The amount has recently been hiked by more than 300 per cent to Rs 4,151.
