IIT-B students demand ‘open house’ over fee row

Protesting post-graduate students from IIT-Bombay have demanded an ‘open house’ with the college administration to discuss their concerns over a recent fee hike, announced earlier this week

Mumbai: Protesting post-graduate students from IIT-Bombay have demanded an ‘open house’ with the college administration to discuss their concerns over a recent fee hike, announced earlier this week. In a second demonstration held outside the main administrative building on campus, students also demanded that the institute’s online fee portal for students, which was opened on Tuesday, be closed until their concerns are resolved.

Protesting post-graduate students from IIT-Bombay have demanded an ‘open house’ (HT PHOTO)

In a statement issued Thursday, students who organised under the banner of ‘Students Against IIT Fee Hike’ wrote, “The administration has opened up the web portal for fee payment by on-roll students on July 19. This was done on the very same day, when the administration had assured the students that it would arrange for an open-house meeting to address their concerns... (We) formally condemn the contradictory approach shown by the administration towards this issue, and appeal to the administration to be sympathetic towards the concerns of the students.”

The statement also advised on-roll students, who have already taken admission at IIT-B for various courses, to defer payment of fees until their demands are acknowledged by the administration. For incoming students, the hike will prove to be more severe. New PhD students will have to pay a fee of ₹5,000, up from ₹2,500 earlier, while incoming master’s students will have to pay ₹25,000, up from ₹2,500 earlier.

“Across various components, for both Master’s and PhD courses, the average increment comes to 45%. That’s a huge jump for many of the senior students, especially PhD candidates, who have financial obligations outside of their education. Many PhD researchers also have families to support. Besides, not one student has been directly intimated about the fee hike via email. Only a circular was quietly uploaded on the website. This is not correct,” said Pranav, a student who only gave his first name.

A spokesperson for IIT-B said that it was “a routine fee hike” and declined to comment in detail.