Students protest at MDU Rohtak over annual fee hike, other demands

Protest enters 12th day as organisations seek rollback of fee hike policy, hostel concession for BPL students and clarity on faculty recruitment. The protesting students said they have three major demands

Students affiliated with several student groups locked the main gate of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) on Thursday and staged a protest against the proposed 10% annual fee increase and other issues, raising slogans against the university administration and vice-chancellor.

The protesters accused the university V-C of failing to address students’ concerns and alleged that repeated assurances from the university administration had not resulted in any concrete action. (HT File)

The protesters have been there for the past 12 days, alleging that the university authorities have not invited them for talks yet.

The protesting students said they have three major demands. The first was the withdrawal of a proposal approved by the university’s executive council in 2022, which allows a 10% annual increase in course fees.

Kunal Kumar, a student protester, said the provision would substantially increase the financial burden on students. “If the fee for a course is ₹50,000 or ₹70,000, it will increase to ₹55,000 or ₹77,000 the following year, and continue increasing annually,” he said.

The students also demanded a 50% concession in hostel fees for students belonging to below the poverty line (BPL) families, similar to the facility available at Kurukshetra University.

The protesters accused the university V-C of failing to address students’ concerns and alleged that repeated assurances from the university administration had not resulted in any concrete action.

He further alleged that the registrar appeared to be exercising greater control over administrative decisions, leaving the students’ demands unresolved. The protesting students warned that their agitation would continue until their demands were met. They said that if the university administration failed to intervene soon, they would seek support from student organisations across the state and expand the agitation.

When contacted, MDU Rohtak’s director of public relations, Sunit Mukherjee said the university administration has already constituted a committee, comprising senior functionaries, to review the annual fee hike recommended by the executive council in its meeting.

Further, the committee will also review the hostel fee hike. As far as the request for fee concession for BPL students is concerned, that too will fall under the purview of this committee, he added.