JNU partially rolls back hike in hostel fees

The Jawaharlal Nehru University on Wednesday decided to partially rollback the hike in hostel fees following protests by students for 16 days.

The decision was taken in varsity's Executive Council (EC) meeting which had to be shifted outside the campus at the last moment fearing agitation by students.

"JNU Executive Committee announces major rollback in the hostel fee and other stipulations. Also proposes a scheme for economic assistance to the EWS students. Time to get back to classes," HRD Secretary R Subrmanyam tweeted.

According to sources, the room rent which was raised to Rs 600 from Rs 20 for single occupancy will now be Rs 200. Similarly, for double occupancy the rent was hiked from Rs 10 to Rs 300. The amount will now be Rs 100.

The students had on Monday staged protest outside AICTE, the venue for the convocation. As the protests escalated, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' was stuck inside for over six hours and forced to cancel two scheduled events.