Presidency students continue sit-in, gherao interim VC on fee hike issue

Kolkata, Jul 31 (PTI) A group of Presidency University students on Wednesday gheraoed officiating vice-chancellor Subhro Kamal Mukherjee, demanding a written commitment to reverse the proposed hike in admission fees.

"We want the VC to provide a written assurance that the newly formed fee hike review advisory committee will meet today and that he will be present. We will allow him to leave once he agrees to these terms," Bitan Islam, an SFI activist, said.

Approximately 100 students, led by the Students Federation of India (SFI), have been staging a sit-in at the university’s main campus on College Street for the past few days.

Neither Mukherjee nor Registrar Debojyoti Konar responded to phone calls during the protest.

An official from the university noted that the proposed fee hike, the first in about ten years, is being considered due to a financial crunch affecting the procurement of new library books, laboratory instruments, and maintenance of existing facilities.

The proposed hike would raise undergraduate fees from Rs 4,205 to Rs 7,200 and postgraduate fees from Rs 4,300 to Rs 7,200.

"The fee hike has become imperative as the institution is facing a funds crunch, which has affected procurement of new books for the library, instruments for laboratories and proper upkeep of existing lab facilities," he added.

The increase is intended to apply only to first-semester admissions. Islam said the students have proposed alternative funding methods to avoid burdening them with higher fees. PTI SUS MNB