Fee hike after decades a must to meet expenses, ensure quality: Allahabad University

In the backdrop of the protests by student leaders against the proposed fee hike of courses from the 2022-23 session, Allahabad University (AU) vice-chancellor Prof Sangita Srivastava has justified the need for hiking the fee, which has been done after several decades.

The top-most decision-making body of Allahabad University (AU)— Executive Council (EC)— approved the proposal of hiking the fee of different courses being offered by the central varsity, on August 31.

The vice-chancellor said, “The fee per month at AU for the past 110 years has been ₹12. In order to pay running costs of electricity bills and other maintenance, the fee was due to be enhanced for the past number of years. The private institutions are now the major players and they charge exorbitant fees. If the little fee that is enhanced by us creates so much ruckus amongst the stakeholders, they should realise that these institutions providing education at a such low fee shall perish in due course.”

AU’s public relation officer, Prof Jaya Kapoor said that the university is steadily reviving with new faculty members being recruited, old buildings being renovated, and campuses presenting a much cleaner look. “But there is a clear message from the government that the university needs to generate funds and reduce its dependence on government funds. AU is facing a reduction in funds just like other institutions but had desisted from raising the fees for the past many years.”

Various factors have been at play stopping the institution from raising the fees. The most important one has been the petty vested interest of gaining cheap popularity and the gimmick of headline-grabbing by the so-called student leaders who tried to catapult into headlines on the pretext of agitation which would open an easy door for them into political circles. Thus, the decision has been taken now to raise the fees for the first time since the university came into existence as an independent entity in 1922, she added.

“The fees are being raised and brought almost at par with many other central universities but are still lower than most of them. If we take the fees for science students in an undergraduate course, the fees for the university would be the lowest (around ₹4,151 per year) in the bracket among all other central universities. The same is the case for other courses where the fee even after the hike remains the lowest among the lowest across the comparable major central universities,” Prof Kapoor said.

“AU is sensitive to the interests of the student and so the present students already pursuing various courses have been kept out of the ambit of the fee hike. The hike will only be applicable for the students who will take fresh admission in various courses in the coming session,” said the PRO.

AU remains committed to its dream that brought it into existence that quality education and research at par with the best across the world is the right of everyone, she added.