The University of Allahabad will hold talks with students on September 29 amidst the ongoing fee hike protests by students of the university. The students have been protesting the almost three-fold fee hike for several days now. In a post on Twitter, the university issued a statement stating, “Keeping in view the ongoing agitation regarding fee hike, the Honorable Vice Chancellor @UoA_Official constituted a high-level committee of teachers and district administrative officers and invited the students to the North Hall for talks.”
During a protest against the fee hike on Tuesday, September 27, the students dug a five-foot deep pit at their protest site on the campus and threatened to bury themselves and take "bhu samadhi", reported PTI. Some students jumped into the pit and had to be pulled out by the police and an additional police force had to be deployed to control the situation. The students later planted saplings in the pit.
In a letter, they said a 300 per cent fee hike has been effected unethically by the university administration, due to which many students would be deprived of education and that a request has been made to withdraw it.
The university’s response
The university claimed in the tweet that the names presented by the students for talks included former student union president Richa Singh, who is currently not a student of the university. They have agreed to hold talks on the condition that former members of the student union will not be included.“The committee, after waiting for two hours, decided that they would be present in the North Hall on 29 September 2022 to resume the talks, on the condition that former members of the student union, suspended students, students of other colleges or alumni will not be included,” the university added in the tweet. They also said, “The university is ready to listen to the problems of its own students. But it becomes clear from the list that the anarchy on the campus is being spread only by a few selfish elements due to their implied selfish and political ambition,” in the tweet.
Adarsh Singh Bhadauria, a student associated with the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), earlier said that they were ready to end their lives to protest the fee hike, but the university administration was firm on its stand of not withdrawing the increment, reported PTI.
