IIT Delhi to form committee to reduce mess fees after students protest against fee hike

NEW DELHI: After the students of Indian Institute of Technology Delhi protested over the increase in mess fees, IIT Delhi held a meeting with the students to look into the matter. The institute decided to form a committee to find a solution for the mess fee hike.

“In the meeting, it was decided to form a joint committee of representatives of concerned students and the administration. This joint committee will work on finding ways towards reducing the mess fee,” the IIT Delhi administration said.

“The committee will also do a comparative study of similar messes in other large metros. It is important to note that messes in various hostels at IIT Delhi are run by students through their elected representatives, who also have transparent access to the mess accounts,” it added.

A week ago, the IIT-D students group had claimed that the students are paying salaries of all the mess workers and explained about the functioning of the Board of Hotel Management (BHM), a constituent body of the Student Affairs Council (SAC).

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The BHM is not a part of the university. Although the institute used to give 90% subsidy earlier, it was later reduced to zero after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) “strictly advised not to pay the mess workers salaries as it is not part of IIT-Delhi”, the students informed.

Currently, the students are paying Rs 7,000 as mess fees. They claimed that the total cost for breakfast, lunch and dinner is less than Rs 120 per day for a student. Students had also asked if there is any alternative for BHM or “the fee will keep increasing exponentially”.

The institute also relaxed the rules for filing nominations for the elections. Earlier, the students had to clear all dues to file a nomination and participate in college elections. However, the institute today announced to waive two conditions for participation in elections and extended the last date to pay the mess fees to April 30.