NEW DELHI: Jawaharlal Nehru University partially rolled back the hostel fee hike following an executive committee meeting headed by Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar on Wednesday while the students said they were not sated.
The decision comes after protests by JNU students since Monday which resulted in violent clashes with the police.
"JNU Executive Committee announces major roll-back in the hostel fee and other stipulations. Also proposes a scheme for economic assistance to the EWS students. Time to get back to classes," Union Human Resource Development Secretary R Subrahmanyam tweeted.
JNUSU Former President S Balaji questioned what the major rollback meant as the detail of the EC meeting were not shared by the HRD Secretary.
"Our protest will continue. They are fooling us. Have they shared the detail of the roll back. They would make minor changes, decrease Rs 5 or something and claim to have rolled back the entire draft," he told this newspaper.
On Monday, students took out a massive protest in the varsity against hostel fee hike and several other issues like restrictions on the entry to the Parthasarathy Rocks, attempts to lock students' union office and other "anti-students" policies.
Their foremost demand was the withdrawal of the draft hostel manual, in which the rent for a single-seater room has been increased from Rs 20 per month to Rs 600 per month, while rent for a double-seater room has been increased to Rs 300 per month from Rs 10 per month.
During the protest, hundreds of students blocked ways, preventing Union HRD Minister and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu to leave the campus. They were invited as chief guests for JNU's convocation ceremony.