Students at the regional campus of the Indian Maritime University (IMU) here are up in arms against the authorities alleging lack of academic and hostel facilities and transparency in the fee structure for the three-year B.Sc. Ship Building and Repair programme.
Students boycotted classes on Monday and staged a protest on the campus demanding immediate steps to resolve their problems. They have decided to strengthen the agitation, if the university authorities failed to consider their demands.
A group of students told The Hindu that the authorities had ensured food, uniform and books under the Rs. 2 lakh fee for residential candidates but amended it after the classes started. “Now, we have been told that we will have to bear the expenses for books and uniform on our own as it will not come under the Rs. 2 lakh fee already paid,” they said.
Fine collection
The B.Sc. students also blamed the authorities for not informing them in advance about the Rs. 100 per day fine collected for not paying the fee before the deadline. Rejecting the allegations, M. Sekar, Director-in-charge of the regional campus, pointed out that the decision to change the benefits under the Rs. 2 lakh was a policy decision and made clear in this year’s admission brochure released before the start of this year’s session.
On imposing fine for the delay in fee payment, Mr. Sekar alleged that a few students did not want to pay the fee on time.
Asked whether he plans to take disciplinary action against the agitating students, the director pointed out that no decision has been taken yet. “I spoke to them and majority of them are now convinced (about the varsity’s stance)”, he said.
But the students made it clear that their peaceful protests will continue till their demands are met. “We will attend classes wearing black badges,” they said.
