‘University officials issued circular asking them to deposit fees before October 10’
Hundreds of students studying in various courses in Andhra University on Tuesday took out a rally from the varsity campus to the collector’s office here and demanded the government to refund their fees immediately.
According to the students, they had got seats in various courses like M.Sc., M.Com., and MBA after appearing in the entrance examinations in the year 2020-21. “As per GO 77, the government assured that we need not pay Re 1 and the fee will be reimbursed by the state government under the Jagannath Vidya Deewana scheme,” he said. The students alleged that the Andhra University authorities had issued a circular asking them to pay the fee just before October 10, failing which they would not be allowed to attend the classes.
“The fee structure of different courses varies from ₹90,000 to ₹1.3 lakh for two years. Last year, most of the students received only ₹10,000 as fee reimbursement from the state government, that too in phases. What about the rest of the fee? Why don’t the state government and universities coordinate?,” said a protester.
Another student said that many students are from middle class families, while there are many students whose parents work as farmers, laborers and are not in a position to pay fees.
“We worked hard and got a seat in the university, as we are not able to pay fees in private colleges. But here again the officials are asking us to pay. What about the promises made by the state government?” A student said. The students said that the university should immediately withdraw the circular and the government should also reimburse the fee. As the District Collector was attending another event, the students presented their representations to the officials in the administrative office. “Some of us were asked to come and meet the collector again on Wednesday. We will meet them and explain our problem. If the government does not take any action, we will not hesitate to go on hunger strike in AU from October 10,” said a student.
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