MKU College studentsprotest against fee hike

A section of Madurai Kamaraj University College (MKUC) students staged a protest on Monday on the college premises, condemning the recent increase of fee for examination, submission of projects and dissertation, for obtaining mark sheets, degree certificates and a number of other items by the Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU).

According to the students, the fees were increased by 20 %. While the examination fee per paper had gone up from ₹ 65 to ₹ 78, the increase in fee for dissertation submission and degree certificate were considerably higher.

“Now, we have to pay ₹ 720 for our degree certificates. However, the problem is that convocation has not been conducted for our college for the past few years and students from those batches were yet to receive their degrees. We are also not hopeful that we will get our degrees at the right time,” said a third-year student.

Lack of facilities

Demanding that the fee increase be withdrawn, the students also complained about the lack of basic amenities on the campus.

“After we staged a number of protests, the administration is building new toilets. However, availability of drinking water is still a problem for the thousands of students studying here,” another student said.

The university, however, has strongly defended the fee increase, which it said was very marginal.

Responding to a question on the issue at the Senate meeting recently, Vice-Chancellor P.P. Chellathurai said that the fees were not increased for the past eight years and assured that fee set by MKU in none of the categories were more than other State universities in Tamil Nadu.

“In eight years, we need to revise the examination fee at least to manage the increase in the cost of stationery,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor added that the expenditure of the MKU had shot up on several fronts, the recent one being the sharp increase in salaries as per Seventh Pay Commission recommendations.