IIT Bombay Postgraduate, PhD students stage protest against fee hike

Around 100 students participated in the sit-in protest that lasted for around an hour before the authorities from the institute came to receive the letter and assured them that they will look into their demands.

IIT Bombay Postgraduate, PhD students stage protest against fee hike

A group of students from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay staged a spontaneous sit-in protest at its main building after they were not allowed to meet the director to submit an open letter against a hike in fees for postgraduate and PhD courses. Around 100 students participated in the sit-in protest that lasted for around an hour before the authorities from the institute came to receive the letter and assured them that they will look into their demands. 

As per the reports, the institute has hiked the fees for both MTech and PhD courses by 45 per cent. The fee hike circular for the autumn semester was issued recently by the institute. 

“The break-up of fee structure for existing master’s and PhD students shows significant increase under all the heads, except the tuition fees. This includes hostel fees, registration fees, medical fees, examination fees, electricity and water charges, hostel and mess establishment charges, student accident insurance fund, student benevolent fee and gymkhana fees among others, taking the total fees from Rs 16,500 to Rs 23,950,” said a student, as reported by the Indian Express.

The new admissions are the worst hit, the student added. “Their fee hike is huge with an exorbitant jump in tuition fees too. For PhD, the tuition fee for new batches has been increased to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,500. Whereas for master’s students, it has been increased to Rs 25,000 from Rs 2,500,” said the student.

The open letter that has been submitted to the administration has been signed by around 1,000 students, demanding a complete rollback of the fee hike. The letter also highlighted that the hike puts an additional financial burden on the students who are already suffering from the effects of inflation and the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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