Days after the Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay announced a fee-hike for post graduate courses, around 100 students began a spontaneous sit-in protest on Tuesday, July 19 at the main building.
Prior to jumping over the protests, the students tried to meet the director to submit an open letter against the fee hike; however, they were denied the permission.
The sit-in protest lasted for around an hour until finally a few of the authorities of the institute came to receive the letter and assured the students that they would look into the demands.
As per reports, students at the premier technology institute in Mumbai’s Powai area are raising their voices against the exorbitant fee hike in master’s and PhD courses. Students stated that the fee-hike is huge with an exorbitant jump in the cost of tuition fees too.
On the other hand, an open letter was also submitted to the institute administration, which is signed by around 1000 students, demands a complete rollback of the fee hike.
The letter also highlights that the fee hike puts an additional financial burden on the students while they are already suffering under the effects of steepened inflation and the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the students have also mentioned discontent in the manner the fee hike was introduced, as students’ representatives were not consulted.
Apart from a complete rollback of the fee hike, the other demands put forth by the collective are: extension in the deadline for the fee payment, increase in the fellowships for the research scholars and transparency in the expenses incurred out of the fees paid by the students. The collective has appealed to the students not to pay the fees until a decision is reached regarding the rollback of the fee hike.
Share
Tweet
