NEW DELHI: Citing the pandemic and revised academic calendar, the student wing of Congress, National Student Union of India (NSUI) on Monday appealed to the Delhi University (DU) to waive off fees for maintenance, library, electricity and water, and development fund charged by the colleges.
“Several students have lost their parents to the pandemic or earning member of the family. In many cases, the parents have lost their job. At this juncture, asking students to pay hefty amount as fees is nothing more than exploitation,” said Nitish Gaur, NSUI Delhi in-charge.
Former president of DUSU and Delhi state president of NSUI Kunal Sherawat said all the 86 colleges under Delhi University are charging unnecessary fee despite students have been studying online for the last one year.
“Earlier, the academic session used to start from July and the first semester exams from last week of November. But, since last year, the classes start from November and exams for first semester are held in March. So, when the colleges have cut short the academic session, why they are charging full fees?” wondered Sherawat. NSUI leaders said they will set a helpline for Covid-affected students who are unable to pay their annual fees.