Raja Syed Rather
Srinagar, Jul 13: The students at the Central University of Kashmir (CUK) held a protest on Thursday here, demanding a “fair” fee structure and improved facilities. They threatened of boycotting the classes if the “genuine” demands were not met.
The protesting students, said the university was charging “exorbitant” semester and admission fees without improving facilities.
“Our seniors would pay less than 30 to 40 percent of the fees that we are being charged this time. The hike in fees would have been justified had there been any improvement in facilities, but that has not been done so far,” they said.
They claimed the fees charged by the university is “significantly higher” compared to other universities established under the Central University Act 2009.
The students also said criticised the university’s financial policies, saying they were being charged for non-existent facilities. They pointed out the absence of accommodation options, such as hostels, while the university continues to collect fees for these amenities.
“We have been protesting for a week for the excessive fees we have been burdened with, which is way more than other universities set up through the Central University Act of 2009. The facilities that are provided to us are poor and below par to say the least. If we take the Central University of Jammu for example, they have a comprehensive studio and equipments and their fee is half to ours, while we have subpar facilities at way higher fees,” said Hashim Bilal, a student of Mass Communication.
“We, along with other departments demand a fair fee structure and are hopeful that the VC would stick to his word that he gave us today, that our issue will be resolved within a week,” he said.
A non-local student said, “I am from Lucknow, UP, and I came with high expectations. Unfortunately, there are no good facilities, not even in the hostel. And the fees is very high as compared to other central universities.”
Another student, said, “We came all the way from Kerala to study here. But everybody is trying to loot us. We have no security here in terms of accommodation and they are charging us for things that are non-existent.”
Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor Prof A Ravinder Nath urged the students not to boycott their classes and assured them their grievances would be taken seriously and resolved promptly.
“We will resolve the issue within a week. The students can form a committee that will communicate with us to deliberate upon the issues they are facing here,” the VC said.
