Allahabad University students protesting fee hike gherao vice-chancellor

NEW DELHI: Allahabad University students, who have been agitating for 83 days to demand rollback of the fee hike, on Monday gheraoed the university's vice-chancellor.

The protesters, led by student leader Ajay Yadav Samrat, gheraoed Vice-Chancellor Sangeeta Srivastava when she was moving towards her car after leaving office. Police and administration officials controlled the situation and made way for her. The agitating students also got into a heated argument with Harsh Kumar, the university proctor, during the protest.

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"Besides the demand for withdrawal of the fee hike, the students have also launched an agitation against the illegal appointment of Vice-Chancellor Sangeeta Srivastava," said student leader Ajay Yadav Samrat. The students took out a 'Jan Aakrosh March' on November 15, 2022 to demand restoration of the students' union and rollback of the hike.

The University has held talks with the agitating students, however the meeting did not lead to a conclusion as Students' Union vice-president Akhilesh Yadav said: "The meeting between the university administration and the students' union over the fee hike, which lasted for about two-and-a-half hours, was a complete failure".

Samrat said the students had been agitating against the fee hike for 83 days but the vice-chancellor did not even listen to their demands. The students have alleged that the fees for undergraduate courses, which were Rs 975 a year, have been hiked over 300 per cent to Rs 4,151.