New Delhi: On October 1, over 30 students at Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD), Kashmere Gate campus, gathered outside the vice chancellor’s office amid concerns over a fee hike in the middle of a pandemic, lack of technological support from the university and change in the admission policy.
One of the most pressing issues that potential applicants are facing is the change in the definition of the ‘Domicile’ category in the university’s reservation policy. As per the new rule, applicants will now have to produce their caste certificate as per the Delhi state list during admission. Students fear that this change would make the university inaccessible to SC/ST/OBC students from other states.
Hence, the protestors have been demanding the university to use the Union list while allotting reservations to students seeking new admission, and to bring back the residence category for being eligible for NCT domicile criteria. According to Shubhojeet Dey, treasurer at AUD students’ council, the change in definition of the Domicile category will render many applicants “helpless”.
Another concern is the lack of technological support from the university.
“About two months ago the VC had promised us that she would start the procedure of providing students with tablets for online classes, but there has been no action until now. Who knows how long the pandemic would last? Why should students suffer because of university’s laxity?” Dey added.
The students also staged protests on Monday, September 28, when the administration had assured that a meeting would be planned out by Tuesday. However when there was no communication, students today sat in protest right outside the proctor’s office where the registrar and proctor were present. After a long protest, students have been yet again given a date, October 5, for a meeting with the VC.
When LiveWire contacted Nitin Malik, the registrar, he said: “Students should wait till the date allotted to them to meet, she is the VC, she is busy with many things, now they have been given a date. The VC is ready to talk to them.”
While the administration claims that the VC is available for discussion, students say that no concrete action has been taken thus far. The administration, they say, has done nothing besides giving them a later date for the meeting.
Priyansh, a third-year undergraduate student at AUD, says: “Sarkar ki university hai, phir bhi BA fees Rs 20,500 hai ek semester ka, MA mein Rs 30-35000…Covid ke time kaafi logon ke mata pita ka job chala gaya hai, uske baad bhi university deadline deta hai fees payment ki, students jo gaon mein hai woh toh class bhi nahi le pa rahay.
(This is a state government’s university, but even then the fee for my BA course is Rs 20,500 for one semester and Rs 30-35,000 for MA…During the lockdown, a lot of our parents have lost their jobs, but even then the university has set a deadline for fee payment…Students who live in villages haven’t even been able to take classes.)”
As per the fee notice issued in 2019, annual fee for undergraduate courses ranged between Rs 40,000 to 50,000 and that of postgraduate between 54,000 to 70,000. And according to the new notice, a first-year BA student at AUD will now have to pay Rs 43,880 annually and a first-year MA student will have to pay Rs 54, 740 annually as well. On the other hand, the annual fee for students in Calcutta University and Osmania University is in the range of Rs 5,000- 8,000 per year.
The issue, however, is not about the hike – since the university increases the semester fee every year – as much as it is about charging such huge amount in the middle of a pandemic when most of the resources are lying unused.
For instance, postgraduate students at AUD’s school of design have been asked to pay for the ‘Extra Mural’ which, as per the notice, in itself is Rs 20,000 in addition to the total fee standing at Rs 33,600 (Rs 1,680). Hence, these students are demanding that the ‘Extra Mural’ Cost (EMC) be scrapped since classes have been taking place online and there is no application of physical workshops whatsoever which the EMC covers.
AUD currently has a mechanism for the students coming from marginalised communities. It provides full fee waivers to SC/ST, PWD, and students with family income below Rs 3 lakh/annum. Partial fee waivers of 75%, 50%, and 25% are also there for students with family income below Rs 4, 5, and 6 lakh/annum. However, the administration, with its annual fee hike system, is making the university inaccessible for students even in the partial fee waiver slabs, the students have said.
Featured image credit: Aditi and Kislay