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After backlash, minister suspends SPPU move to charge fee for stroll on campus
The SPPU has created an oxygen park by planting various saplings where it had invited people to take a stroll and pay ₹1,000.
Following severe criticism from locals, Maharashtra’s minister for higher education, Uday Samant, has asked Savitribai Phule Pune University’s (SPPU) administration to suspend its decision of charging ₹1,000 from those who visit the campus for morning and evening walks, the minister announced the same via Twitter.
Samant in a tweet on Saturday morning said, “The decision to charge fees from those on morning and evening walk at SPPU’s oxygen park has been suspended. The plan will be revised soon and a notification on the same will be issued,” said Samant.
The SPPU has created an oxygen park by planting various saplings where it had invited people to take a stroll and pay ₹1,000. Several locals, who take morning and evening stroll in the university campus, criticised the decision, forcing Samant to issue a clarification that the administration has been asked to revise its plan.
On Saturday, Samant retracted the proposal of ‘Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) Oxy Park’ under which the university had decided to charge ₹1,000 from people from June 20.
Ashish Deshpande, a regular visitor to the university campus, said that the decision to charge money from people who come to the university is not right.
“It is a state university, and the campus is open for everyone. Due to the pandemic, more and more people are trying to remain fit. Visiting the campus for a morning and evening walk is a regular habit for me. Charging money from those who visit the campus is not correct at all. It is a good thing that the proposal was withdrawn,” said Deshpande.
Another regular visitor, Anand Kulkarni, said that decision was not welcome at all.
“People pay exorbitant amounts of money for a gym but such a natural campus for regular walks is a good place. Money should not be charged from visitors. The university campus is not private property and so such a fee is not acceptable,” said Kulkarni.
As per the earlier notification issued by the SPPU, ₹1,000 was charged for a month. For children between the age group of nine years to 13 years, no fee was to be charged; only a registration fee of ₹500 was to be paid. The SPPU would provide an identity card to members. Family members of the Oxy park member would get 25 per cent off on their membership, as per the previous notification.
Following Samant’s intervention, SPPU replaced the notification by afternoon after the backlash with new order stating that ‘SPPU Oxy Park’ will be inaugurated on International Yoga Day that is June 21.
“The SPPU Oxy park scheme will be updated and relaunched with new sports and other facilities included in it. Meanwhile, the notification issued on June 11 is withdrawn,” stated officials from SPPU.
Despite several attempts, registrar Prafulla Pawar was not available for a comment.
SPPU vice-chancellor Nitin Karmalkar said he cannot comment on the issue as he is in Nashik and not on campus.
