Allahabad University admission will take place as fee is 'non-issue': AU shares facts about fees

NEW DELHI: Protest against Allahabad University fee hike has been ongoing for a month now. As the university has been witnessing intense protests recently, it has shared facts about fee hike that are not being discussed by the students.

Defending the university's decision to increase fees, Allahabad University VC Sangita Srivastava had on Wednesday said the students’ complaint was "misdirected". She also said that the AU fees for the past several decades was Rs 975 which comes to Rs 81 per month. The university has now decided to set the fees to Rs 4,151 per year, which is Rs 333 per month.

Two days after the Allahabad University VC’s message, the university has now shared 6 facts and said “certain facts that have not been discussed about fee hike must be known to students in particular and public in general”.

The university also urged all protesting students to let the students who want to take admission to peacefully submit the fees. “The facts would be known to all within 10 days as soon as each and every student will take admission because in fact fee is a non issue,” AU said in a statement.

Facts about Allahabad University fees: UoA

Stating that the fee hike does not impact the marginalized section at all, the university said, “All poor students get full refund of the fee by bouts Scholarship (In session 2021- 22, 7,891 students applied for scholarship). All girl students, SC, ST students got full refund of not only his annual fee but also hostel and professional fee. OBC not in creamy layer also get a fee refund. All parents working in government jobs get a fee refund (partially) up to two children.”

Although 98% universities have higher fee structures than AU, “one shall not make comparisons to other central or state universities,'' it said. The comparison is to be made between the total expenditure of a student taking admission in AU and the percentage of fee in total expenditure. “In the last 50 years the percentage of fee has dropped below 1% of total expenditure, what is hurting for people is the room rent, the coaching fee, the travelling expenditure and the cost of food,” it added.

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Allahabad University also answered why can't the university, have more hostels, food halls and coaching classes at subsidized rates.

It said “those who live in hostels do not pay electricity dues, do not make payment to university hostels for food.”

“Pant hostel was created for coaching of SC/ST and is now closed due to non-payment of dues. The trusts do not want to give hostels to AU students because they never pay their dues in time. Electricity dues of KPUC and Halland Hall are in crores. The govt, has begun a new Ambedkar Institute for 100 SC/ST students to give them free coaching. The number of applicants was less than 500.”

It further said that the students living in private rooms pay Rs 3,000 in addition to electricity, travels, food and coaching costs. The reason they are staying in private rooms is “mainly because of some lumpen students who continue to occupy rooms in a hostel for more than 1O or even 20 years. Thus university and trusts do not want to create more hostels”.

“These lumpen students attack the teachers and their families, so no teacher is ready to become Superintendent or Warden. The same elements who thus always try to push their vested interest are making all hue and cry about the hike,” it added.