E-Paper
Fee hike yes, but only to benefit student leaders
TO GIVE a setback to the cash-strapped Lucknow University (LU) exchequer, student leaders have restricted the varsity administration from raising the undergraduate fee. They let LU raise fees on issues that ?benefit? them while dumping all other proposed hikes under different heads meant for the development of LU.
TO GIVE a setback to the cash-strapped Lucknow University (LU) exchequer, student leaders have restricted the varsity administration from raising the undergraduate fee. They let LU raise fees on issues that ‘benefit’ them while dumping all other proposed hikes under different heads meant for the development of LU.
Student leaders have agreed to raise the student union fee by Rs 10 and poor student fund by Rs 16. So, the hike in the UG fee will be only Rs 26. In addition, students will have to pay another Rs 50 under Student Accident Relief Fund. Besides, they have rejected every other head under which LU was mulling a hike.
Varsity student leaders have given its go-ahead to hike in student union fee and poor student relief fund in which they would be directly benefited and that helps to make some money by hook and crook.
On the other hand, they restricted LU from raising fee under other heads for development and expansion.
LU had proposed to raise the BA fees (paid by students) from the present Rs 1,124 to Rs 1,334; B Sc fee from Rs 1,160 to 1,370 and B Com fee from Rs 1,124 to Rs 1,334. A hike of Rs 210 in each course. This hike was evenly distributed under various heads like in admission, games, library, tuition, development, etc.
But student leaders only approved the hike under student union fee and poor student fund while rejecting the others.
Says a close aide of LU V-C: “There was no alternative left. If we ignored their demand, they would have resorted to violence and that would bring all admission-related work to a screeching halt.”
LU will plunge into bigger crisis since the State Government has not raised its grant even as the salary of the teachers has increased phenomenally. But according to the student leaders, LU is making brisk income from self-financing courses and should utilise that money to compensate losses incurred.
