Panjab University rolls back exam fee hike for EWS students

After Panjab University Campus Students’ Council (PUCSC) office-bearers and supporters staged a protest against hike in examination fee for the economically weaker section (EWS) students on Wednesday, Panjab University (PU) rolled back the hike on Friday.

The fee has been reduced from ₹2,500 to ₹1,430.

PUCSC president Kanupriya said, “Education is not a commodity, it should not be sold. The authorities hike fee arbitrarily whenever they wish. We will not tolerate this. We will question the matter of regular fee hike at all levels.”

When contacted, PU finance development officer Vikram Nayyar informed that the authorities concerned did not increase the fee, adding that there was some error on the online portal.

PUCSC vice-president, Daler Singh, secretary, Amarinder Singh, and joint secretary Vipul Atray expressed their happiness over the decision of rolling back the examination fee hike.

THE CASE

In May, the Senate had approved ₹75 hike in examination fee per semester which was earlier slated to increase by 10%, subject to a maximum increase on ₹200.

While the examination fee for general category students was increased to ₹2,575 from ₹2,500, the fee was supposed to remain unrevised for EWS students. However, the online portal displayed ₹2,500 as fee.

The protest held by the PUCSC on Wednesday came as a shocker to the authorities as it was the first protest held by the student council. The students blocked the entry to the administrative block for three hours. Majority of the students were the supporters of Students’ for Society (SFS) and Indian Students Association (ISA).