Continuing the demands from teachers and students against increasing the importance of the interview for entry to M.Phil and PhD courses, a research scholar from Jawaharlal Nehru University has begun an indefinite hunger strike.
Among those suspended
Dileep Yadav, a Ph.D student said his hunger-strike is a “fight-to-the-finish” battle for less privileged students like him.
He was one of the nine students who had been suspended for protesting outside the Academic Council meeting that passed the resolution to change the admission procedure
Attempt to burn degree
Mr. Yadav began his fast by attempting to publicly burn his M.Phil degree issued by the university, and saying that he is protesting against the entrance policy that will discriminate against students on the basis of religion and caste. The student, who is is an activist of the United Other Backward Classes Forum, said that he was prepared to burn his degree because he did not want a degree that would get him a job but would in the future be awarded after discriminating against students at the entrance examination. Teachers and students present at the venue convinced him not to burn his degree as it would not serve any purpose.
Nafey committee report
“I want to draw the university's attention to the Abdul Nafey Committee set up by the university itself that shows that there is discrimination in the university’s admission policy when it come to the interview. Our demand was to reduce the marks given for the interview but instead the university has adopted the UGC notification of March 2016 that awards 100 per cent importance to the interview with the written examination reduced to a qualification exam. This will prevent many students from backward areas and marginalised sections from studying at JNU and other universities in the country,” said Mr. Yadav.
He added that if the administration does not pay heed to his protest by Monday, he along with other students would be forced to escalate the protest.
Rise in fee
Students have also been protesting against the entrance fee structure that has been raised by 27 per cent after 13 years. Earlier, the application fees for BA programme was ₹ 420 and for choosing one and additional programmes was ₹ 630 and ₹ 800 respectively. Now, the same has been hiked up to ₹ 530, ₹ 800 and ₹ 1,000. the fees for M.Phil, Ph.D, M.Tech, M.Sc, MCA and MA programmes, which were ₹ 300 have now been increased to ₹ 400. For additional disciplines, the candidates will have to pay ₹ 575 and ₹ 750 respectively.
