JNU PROTEST

When Devika, a second-year BA student, left her home in Kerala to study at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), she entered the gates of the university with an assurance that she would get quality education at a cost she would be able to afford on her own.

However, two years into her course, she feels cheated as the hike in hostel fee has left her wondering whether she will be able to continue to fund her studies.

“When we took admission here, we were assured that we could study and live here by paying a small amount. Now, out of the blue, the JNU administration has increased the fee and we feel cheated,” says Devika.

There are hundreds of students who are worried as they do not rely on their parents for money and were given permission to come to Delhi to study only because it was not a financial burden on their family, she adds.

Henna, a first-year MA student who also hails from Kerala, echoes Devika’s views.

“I am only in my first year and I am considering going back home to complete my education if the hike in hostel fee is not rolled back. We came here keeping a certain budget in mind. We could have gone elsewhere also. It is like buying a ticket for a particular event and then being told that the show has changed. The administration could at least have brought in the changes in a phased manner so that students coming here would be able to take an informed decision with respect to their financial planning,” says Henna.

Protests on

Since October 28, hundreds of students have taken to the streets against the hike in hostel fee, some of them have never taken part in any activism or missed a single class but are now on the roads demanding a rollback to secure their future.

The JNU Executive Council’s decision on a “partial rollback” has not managed to pacify the students as they feel that the exemption to Below Poverty Line (BPL) students is vague.

“My mother and uncles supported me but my father did not want to send me to Delhi from Bihar to pursue my studies because we could not afford it,” she says.

“When I came here I stayed in a dormitory with a friend the first night. It was only after learning that the cost of living was affordable did my father let me stay on and continue my education. I give tuition in the evenings to sustain myself but if the fee is increased, I will have to consider quitting as I cannot ask for money from home as our financial situation is not good,” says Nandini.

The students feel that the partial “rollback” of the fees announced by the JNU administration after the intervention of the Ministry of Human Resource Development did nothing to solve the financial burden that they are going to face.

Yash, an MA student, says those who are saying that the fee hike is only marginal do not understand the background of students studying here. Most of them are first- generation learners, without subsidised education they will not be able to sustain themselves here, he says.

“I have read comments on social media questioning the protests saying ₹600 per month is not a huge amount. If these people come to JNU and speak to the students from rural and deprived backgrounds, then they will understand the background many students come from and what they had to sacrifice to continue their studies, says Yash.

Former JNUSU president Geeta Kumari says she will have to discontinue her studies if the fee hike is not rolled back.

“My father retired from the Army and now receives a pension of ₹30,000 per month out of which ₹15,000 goes for loan repayment. We do not have any land or other assets. We are surviving only because we live in a village. I have two other siblings who are dependent on my father. If I am able to complete my PhD, I will be the first to do so from my family. But the administration is making things very tough. I cannot ask my father to support me as I know he does not have the money. I will have to reconsider the future of my education,” she says.

Pending fine

For Geeta, there is an added cost to her education.

The cost of raising her voice has come in the form of a fine and it has risen to almost ₹50,000 during the fee hike protests. She still has pending fines from protests she participated in during her tenure as president of the JNUSU. “The administration wants to ruin the life of students by increasing hostel fee and then imposes fines when we protest. But this is a fight not just for JNU students but for the future of affordable higher education in the country. Why should only the rich have access to higher education,” says Geeta.

“After finishing my M.Phil at Hyderabad Central University, I got a job that paid me ₹20,000 but it was because of the affordable fee at JNU that I could let go of the job and think about pursuing a Ph.D here. With the current hike in hostel fee, students will not be able to do research as they will have to think about how to earn money to support themselves instead of concentrating on doing research.”

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