Mumbai: Students of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) have raised an issue of sudden hike in mess fees which involves the charge for consumption of food for students staying at IIT-B campus. Authorities of IIT-B claimed this is not a fee hike, but a mere advance collection of fees as students create debts due to mess over-dues.
The mess fee has been increased from Rs 20,000 to Rs 22,000 for undergraduate (UG) and to Rs 27,000 for post-graduate (PG) students per semester. UG students have to pay this mess fee for four months per semester while PG students have to pay for six months according to their academic duration.
Students claimed the institute should not charge them overdue if they are charging an increased amount at the start itself. Earlier students paid Rs 20,000 as mess fees per semester but were charged overdues at the end of the semester. Students feel the institute should not charge additional dues as they have already increased the fee. Students demand they need clarity over the increase in fees. Pankhi Agarwal, a student said, “Earlier we would end up paying mess overdues at the end of the semester. Since the institute is charging us the whole amount now we just want an assurance that we will not be charged overdues now.”
Another student said, “The increase in fees is not a massive hike but every student is different in terms of financial backgrounds and any kind of increase directly affects the lives of students.” Authorities of IIT-B claimed it not a hike but advance of mess fees. Soumyo Mukherji, Dean of Student Affairs of IIT-B, said, “It is just an advance of mess fees and not a fee hike. Students would tend to create debts and there were large amount of overdues. We could not run behind every student to charge a particular overdue for eating excess or using the mess facility a bit extra so we have decided to charge an advance fees at the start of the semester.”
In addition, this advance mess fees will be used as per the consumption of every student. “The mess facility provides four meals per day. Thus advance amount will be used as per the consumption of every student. If the amount is pending the balance will be carried forward for next semester or returned to students,” added Mukherji.