Student leaders protest ‘mischarge’ of fees in the name of LUSU polls
Prince Prakash of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) claimed that the university has been deceiving students for quite some time.
LUCKNOW Student leaders at Lucknow University (LU) staged a protest on Tuesday, alleging that the university charged fees in the name of the student union while LUSU polls have not been held since 2006. A group of students gathered outside the vice-chancellor’s office on Tuesday, accusing the university of charging ₹200 from a number of PhD students in the name of the student union, which has not been held for 17 years.
Later in the day, LU issued a clarification to quell the protest. The varsity’s spokesperson, Durgesh Srivastava, stated, “This all happened due to a typographical error. A sum of ₹200 was intended to be charged in the name of the student welfare fund. However, it was mistakenly reflected as a student union fee on the receipt. No extra fees were charged from the students. It was a human error.”
However, the student leaders remain unconvinced. Shivam Singh of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) said, “The university had taken ₹200 from a number of PhD students. This has happened at a time when the student union election has not been held for nearly two decades. The university is collecting money from students for something that does not exist.”
Prince Prakash of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) claimed that the university has been deceiving students for quite some time. “This time they charged ₹200 from several PhD students. It is highly objectionable on their part to fleece students,” he said.
Student leaders pointed out that this was not an isolated case. Only recently, the university administration had charged laboratory fees from postgraduate students of the humanities stream. Laboratories are meant for science stream students for practical exams.
Later, LU had announced a refund plan after the All-India Student Association (AISA) and National Student Union of India (NSUI) jointly protested against the ‘unnecessary laboratory fees’ the university had charged from postgraduate students pursuing humanities.
In the academic session (2022-23) too, laboratory fees were similarly charged from the students, and despite assurances, no refund was made until student bodies lodged protests against the LU’s move, they said.
The LU administration assured the protestors that the laboratory fees would be adjusted in the next semester. This time too (2023-24), a similar situation had arisen. AISA and NSUI leaders spoke to the admission cell officials who assured them that the lab fee taken would be refunded by the finance committee.
