THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid an ongoing High Court case challenging the steep hike in hostel fees, students of the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) are being forced to pay the disputed amount to obtain their results and register for the next academic year, to avoid the possibility of a year-back.
Of the 225 first-year bachelor of veterinary science and animal husbandry (BVSc & AH) students, the university has published the results of only 46, while those of the remaining 179 have been withheld over non-payment of hostel fees.
Students can apply for registration to the next academic year only after uploading their marks, leaving those whose results have been withheld in an academic bind. The annual hostel fee, which stood at `2,200 until the previous academic year, was increased to `24,000 -- nearly an 11-fold hike -- from the current academic year.
Students said the facilities provided do not justify the increase.
“The facilities we get are poor when we compare them with the increased fees. When discussions against the hike became active, we decided to move legally and filed a case in the High Court, stating that we cannot pay such a high fee. The next hearing is scheduled next month,” a student said.
The students also pointed out that many opt for veterinary medicine because they cannot afford the high fees associated with private medical education.
“We were informed that the fee hike was brought in due to the fund crisis faced by the university. But is levying additional expenses from students the right way to manage this?” said a student from the College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Mannuthy.
Given the possibility of losing an academic year because of the delayed results, some students are now trying to arrange the money despite the pending court case. A student from the College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Pookode, said they were attempting to raise the Rs 24,000 needed to have the results published and proceed with next year’s registration.
Even while citing practical difficulties of fund shortage, Animal Husbandry Minister Bindhu Krishna told TNIE that the current system is not an advisable one.
“The Veterinary University is under severe fund crunch; even the salaries were disbursed there after we made a chief minister-level intervention. There should be a permanent solution for this, which we will definitely look into in the coming days,” the minister said.
She stressed that the fee hike was implemented by the previous government.
The university, however, maintained that it is only implementing a decision incorporated into its current course handbook. The director of academics and research at the university, Latha C, said the students were informed about the fee payment multiple times well in advance.
“Students have to pay the hostel fees to complete the criteria in the current course handbook, the decision regarding which was approved by all major bodies of the university, including the board of management. If they pay the fees, their results will be published,” she said.
However, Latha added that SC/ST students were exempted from paying the fees.
