Update: Despite the student’s friend paying the fee two days before the exam, which is taking place today, September 12, the college didn’t allow him to write the paper. He has been contacting the examination department and other members from the administration, but still hasn’t received any response from them.
A few days ago, Amit Aggarwal, a first-year postgraduate student at the Directorate of Distance Education, Kurukshetra, didn’t find his name mentioned in the examination list. The examinations are scheduled to start from September 12.
He is currently enrolled in a two-year masters course in journalism and mass communication in a distance programme at Kurukshetra University, whose chancellor is Satyadev Narayan Ray, the governor of Haryana. The university is affiliated with the University Grants Commission.
The student alleges that the university omitted his name because he hasn’t been able to submit the second installment of his college fee for this year. “I have already paid Rs 4,800 as first installment, but couldn’t pay the second installment because my father, who is a daily-wage worker, lost his job due to the pandemic and currently isn’t well,” he said.
However, he says, he has no problem paying the second installment at a later stage if the college allows him to sit for the exam. “I am not asking them to waive off the fee but I am just asking for a little bit of extension to be able to arrange the fee,” he said.
Also read: Extra Fees, No Concessions: More Than 75 Indian Colleges Are Facing Student Protests
The student is a recipient of the LIC HFL Vidyadhan Scholarship for Post-Graduation, under which he is meant to receive a maximum amount of Rs 30,000 per year during his post graduation. The scholarship is a CSR initiative to provide financial aid to students who come from economically weaker sections of the society so that they can pursue their higher studies.
This time, Aggarwal says, there has been a bit delay in the release of scholarship amount due to the pandemic. Hence, he wants the university to give him some time and let him write the exam. However, the university has allegedly not paid any heed to his requests.
For the last one week, he has been sending emails to the administration and has also been calling the vice chancellor, the examination department and other staff members – but hasn’t heard from anyone thus far. “If they don’t want to answer our queries, why do they put up their contact details on the website? What is the point? I have also been requesting the faculty members on our class WhatsApp group, and so have my batchmates, but nobody on the group has said anything,” he added.
When LiveWire tried contacting the administration members, their phones were either switched off or unresponsive.
When the student didn’t hear anything from the administration, he started tweeting about his story on Twitter while tagging the prime minister, the prime minister office, the HRD ministry and the HRD minister, Sonu Sood and other celebrities to help him out. He has also been sending emails to the prime minister.
“We talk about digital India and providing education to all, but when a student, who has been consistent with his academic record and has paid all the fee on time, wants to write an exam – nobody does anything, nobody responds,” he said.
With the examination only two days away and no response from any side, the student worries whether he’d be able to finish his degree on time and feels that the university is “playing with his future”.
The matter, he adds, is not just about him but also about other students who may not have been able to write the exam for the same reason.
Featured image credit: DDE’s official website