Osmania University: Massive hike in PhD course fees invites protests

Though the PhD admissions are completed, students continue to demand a rollback
Students protest at Osmania University against PhD fee hike | (Pic: Sathya Nelli)
Students protest at Osmania University against PhD fee hike | (Pic: Sathya Nelli)

A hike in the fee of PhD programmes from the current academic year at Osmania University (OU), Hyderabad, has left scholars agitating for about two months now. Though the PhD admissions are completed, students continue to demand a rollback.

According to Sathya Nelli, a PhD student who enrolled at OU this year and is spearheading the campaign against tuition fee increases, the administration has failed to take their appeals into account. The students also claim that the Vice-Chancellor unilaterally made the decision to raise fees without consulting other governing bodies.

In the meantime, the VC promised the hike would be taken back, Nelli said. However, the students refused to consider this oral promise and demanded a circular mentioning the same be issued. But no such thing happened, and this has left the students frustrated.

"We are carrying out the protest in various forms. We staged a dharna in front of the Vice-Chancellor's office in April. We have also boycotted our Research Methodology classes, organised a signature campaign, held a debate on the fee hike and distributed pamphlets to everyone in the university, including assistant professors, research scholars and PG students, to spread awareness on the issue," Nelli informed.

Additionally, the students have sent representations regarding the matter to Telangana's Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy, Higher Education Council Chairman Professor R Limbadri and to Boianapalli Vinod Kumar, Vice-Chairman of the state's Planning Commission. "On May 21, we went to the Standing Committee meeting to explain and discuss our concerns, but we were arrested by the police," Nelli added.

The students mention that for Social Science, Arts, Commerce, Education and Language departments, the fee has been hiked from Rs 2,000 to Rs 20,000 per year, while for Technical and Engineering courses, it has been hiked from Rs 2,500 to Rs 25,000 per year. "This means we have to pay Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.25 lakh respectively for 5 years," the student leader said.

Nelli also alleged he was being targeted by the university for leading the protest. "I was allotted a supervisor from OU. Later, I was transferred to a supervisor from Siddipet Government College," he said. The university's All India Other Backward Classes Students' Association (AIOBSCA) on May 22 issued a statement in support of Nelli and against the fee hike. "We stand in solidarity with OU Anti-Fee Hike Movement. We will oppose any attempt to target Mr Sathya Nelli personally or academically and stand with him in leading the movement," it reads.

"The suddenness and magnitude of this fee hike stand in sharp contrast to the fee structures implemented by other institutions...The impact of this fee hike is particularly severe for research scholars from marginalised communities...It not only hampers their access to quality education but also jeopardizes their aspirations of pursuing research and higher education," the statement adds, emphasising that research scholars already undergo various academic challenges during their tenure, and financial challenges are not welcome.

Further, Nelli alleged the PhD education at the varsity was not as it used to be. "Earlier, supervisors used to be assigned from amongst the professors and assistant professors at OU. But now the students are being assigned degree lecturers from private research centres. Moreover, these centres do not have any internet or library facilities," he said.

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