We students of Ambedkar University are concerned that a 25% fee hike has been proposed in Ambedkar University, Delhi. Authorities have claimed that it is subject to approval by the university’s Board of Management. Ambedkar University is an institution formed by government of National Capital Territory through an act passed in the legislative assembly and is funded by the state government. The rationale given by administration has been that fee has not been hiked for the last five years and hence it has to be done in order to meet the increasing operational costs of running a university. It also states that from here onwards, there will be a constant rise in fee by 5% every year.A state funded institution whose fee structure varies from 16,000 per semester to 49,000 per semester –absurd in the first place itself –is now planning to further increase it by 25%. Such hikes directly attack the entire concept of public institutions built for everyone. This step will promote an institution only for a privileged section of the society thus hampering the core principle providing equal opportunities for section of the society. If we look at this decision more closely, we can find various negative aspects in it: -

1. A fee hike will result in shutting all the doors for underprivileged section of the society, which was generally hesitant to be part of this institution due to existing fee pattern. This fee hike if compared to other central and state universities will make Ambedkar University, the costliest of all and hence also unaffordable for many.

2. As university official claim that a fee waiver is provided to a student from marginalized section and hence it won’t harm their entry to this university. So what we can infer is that, higher fee from privileged section will be used to subsidize the underprivileged. This sort of pattern will only enforce the class division that exists outside the university. A student who can afford 20,000 per semester under new fee structure will be entitled to raise demand while the one being subsidized will be asked to keep shut. This fee structure will divide the student fraternity and create more discrimination. Instead of eliminating these social evils –a thing our university actually aims to do in the larger society –will further solidify it inside its campus.

3. Also when the administration talks about fee waiver, it forgets that there are students from both, privileged and marginalized section who are not dependent on their parents for their fee and earn it themselves by taking up part-time jobs. There are also students who out of resistance against the entire notion of joining a professional course choose to be part of humanities and hence are not being sponsored by their rich parents. Under all these cases, university fails to provide fee waiver to anyone of them since their parent’s financial background is sound. Any students’ independent status is not taken into account.

4. This fee hike will also stop students from becoming part of not so professional courses and hence will be shutting doors of various departments teaching liberal arts. Most of the parents would not prefer to spend nearly 1 lakh rupee on a degree which will not yield them much return while the courses like MBA will do it. Hence it will also curb the interest of students community which out of will would want to study humanities but would be forced to drop this idea due to the high fee and pressure from parents.

5. This sort of fee hike will also close doors for girls from taking admissions in the social sciences courses and hence create gender discrimination. In a society like ours where parents tend to spend more on education of their male child, would refrain from spending huge amount on education of their female child. They instead would want them to go for a professional education and hence will be creating more barriers for upliftment of social sciences.

Apart from all these impacts on students of Ambedkar University, Delhi one parallel process needs to be registered. The procedure followed to take this decision is dubious in its lack of transparency as well as in its dismissal of equal participation by everyone as a measure of democracy. A practice our society in general subscribes to, at least in idea. The faculty was not informed before bringing such changes and hence no feedback was taken from them. The question of taking feedback from us, students, is unimaginable. Teachers and students, who are stakeholder in the system, were not brought into confidence before taking such measures. Also the timing at which these so called reforms took place is also very dubious. The administration chose to bring these decisions in light when the semester was near to its end hence leaving no place and time for resistance by students. It followed a planned trajectory to eliminate the stakeholder from the decision and hence clearing its path for implementation of such autocratic farcical fee structure. The beholder of power has also re-enforced the status quo. It has been made clear who runs the university? Clearly, not students and teachers.

The time asks us-students to reclaim our control over a Public University and its decision-making procedure. Politics for social change is not just outside the University walls, but such measures, show us the necessity to fight against inequality and divisions right within these walls. Aside this signature campaign to demand a Roll Back of Fee-Hike, please also suggest other alternate routes for our resistance against fee-hikes and its consequences. People from outside Ambedkar University, Delhi are also urged to join our campaign by signing this petition. After all, a state university is responsible towards everyone!