New Delhi: ABVP members protesting JNU hostel fee hike stopped by police

New Delhi (PTI): Members of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) who were protesting against JNU hostel fee hike were stopped by the police at Parliament Street on Thursday.

The students' organisation began their protest march from Mandi House. They were marching towards the office of HRD Ministry in Shastri Bhawan but were stopped midway. The ABVP is demanding scrapping of the high-power committee set up by the HRD Ministry following the agitation by JNU students against hostel fee hike.

"All we want is a complete rollback of fees hike. The temporary relief by administration is just a lollipop," said Rajiv Mittal, a protestor. "Besides, the rollback of hostel fee hike, we also want that some of the other issues pertaining to dress code, time restrictions on library hours must also be looked into," said Krishna, another protestor.

Gajender, a PHD scholar said "We have raised objections to certain rules imposed by the administration in the hostel manual. Earlier we didn't have to pay for electricity, water and sanitation but with this new rule, we will have to end up spending more money." Amid protests by JNU students against hostel fee hike, Sanjaya Baru, media advisor to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said it is important to save public universities so that students can study at affordable costs.

In a video shared by former JNU Students' Union president N Sai Balaji, Baru, a JNU alumnus, said, "At a time when almost every year we are spending almost six billion dollars on Indians studying abroad, it is extremely important to save public universities."

Jawaharlal Nehru University is one of the best public universities according to HRD ministry's ranking and it is important to ensure that good students can study at affordable costs, he said.

The members of JNU Teachers' Association (JNUTA) on Thursday held a meeting with the high-powered committee constituted by the HRD ministry and demanded a complete roll back of the hostel fee hike, sources said. In the meeting that last for over two hours, the teachers also demanded the removal of the vice-chancellor. PTI