Students urge Pondy Univ to roll back fee hike

They were demanding, among other things, a revocation of fee hike, withdrawal of transportation fee and 25% reservation for Pondicherry native students.

According to the Students’ Council office bearers, the struggle would continue until the fee hike is revoked. The stir is against the unacceptable attitude of PU administration towards the proposed demands, they added.

Following a hunger strike by representatives of the former council, a grievance committee- which included students’ representatives- was formed to address these concerns. But the Vice Chancellor and the administration reportedly remained reluctant, with the V-C not also attending the grievance committee meeting. This is a struggle to retain public education accessible and affordable for every student, said PUSC president Parichay Yadav.

As the students’ council called for boycott, the Registrar(in-charge) released a circular asking the departments to forward details of students who boycott classes. Regardless of these threats, hundreds of students joined the march to the admin block. Attempt by the police and security guards to block the students from entering the block also reportedly failed.