NEW DELHI: Speaking out against the fee hike at JNU hostels, National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) Vice-Chancellor Faizan Mustafa on Tuesday extended his support to the students’ demand stating that the central and state governments “should fully fund public universities”.
“JNU is catering to people, who are not able to afford quality education. It has been doing wonders. Look at the rankings. JNU will always be in top three. For the best performing university’s students, we have to make accommodations,” he said.
ALSO READ: JNUSU to hold protest outside varsity campus during Executive Council meeting on Wednesday
The JNU students are demanding the withdrawal of the draft hostel manual, in which service charges of Rs 1,700 were introduced and the one-time mess security fee, which is refundable, has been hiked from Rs 5,500 to Rs 12,000. 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.
Mustafa said that the increase was huge. “You have to go by the psychology of the students and the parents. If they were paying Rs 10 or Rs 20 a month and you make it Rs 300 or Rs 600 then it will receive a huge backlash. It should be done in phases. Through a consultative process, you have to create consent,” he explained.
Emphasising on the need for governments to invest in education, Mustafa said that the subsidies in central universities can be raised. “From what section of the population is the large chunk of the university population coming?...Hike should be gradual. If you didn’t do it for so many years, giving sudden shock is not right. Why haven’t other central universities increased fee?” he said.
ALSO READ | JNU must protect itself from controversies: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
Commenting on the way the students protested, Mustafa said, “Any protest must be peaceful and democratic. Any protest which turns violent and promotes any kind of lack of rationality is not done,” he said. It was alleged that the students held their associate dean captive and there were reports of many journalists being manhandled during the mass protest.
However, A PhD student, associated with All India Students Association (AISA), denied the allegation saying that the students met with the Associate Dean to get their demands met.
“Nobody ill-treated her. Nobody was held captive. Yesterday, if members of the press were attacked by the students, it is unfortunate. We will make sure that protests are carried out peacefully in the future.”
Fee Hike a gross injustice: AAP MP Sanjay Singh
The Aam Aadmi Party jumped into the fray of the JNU controversy on Tuesday, a day after scores of students from the premier institute took to streets protesting the hostel fee hike by the administration. AAP senior leader Sanjay Singh spoke out in support of the students.
“The unexpected increase in hostel fees in JNU is a gross injustice to the students. HRD minister and Vice-Chancellor meet the demands of the students, withdraw the fee hike” said Singh in a tweet. The Delhi government has not yet taken any decision on the prosecution sanction against former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in the 2016 JNU sedition case.
ALSO READ: Female journalists manhandled at JNU students' protest
"The fee structure in central universities is very low. These universities perform a huge social service. They are catering to the needs of the downtrodden. JNU is catering to those who are unable to afford quality education," says Faizan Mustafa, Vice-Chancellor, NALSAR.
"The food rates in hostel mess halls had gone up last year. We protested then and the administration brought the rates down but the percentage increase in the fee this year is too high. It is just not fair," Saket Moon, JNUSU Vice President
"We asked her [the Associate Dean] to sign a paper saying that this hostel draft manual would be withdrawn. However, she refused and said that the fee will be increased further for the next year. Nobody was held captive," said a member of AISA.