Fee hike: Delhi government warns IP varsity of strict action

Taking a serious note of colleges, affiliated to the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, threatening students for joining agitation against fees hike, the AAP government has instructed its higher education department to ensure these colleges were not allowed to intimidate students to extract enhanced fees.

These directions came from deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s office in the wake of reports about the colleges threatening students to deposit arrears and the enhanced fees. “It is hereby ordered that director (higher education) may clearly instruct the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University authorities that no private college can take action against any students and any such action will be viewed seriously by the government and appropriate action would be taken,” the order said. In a communication to the secretary and director higher education, the deputy chief minister’s office has said that “it is considered opinion of this government that right to protest and right to dissent are fundamental rights of the students and they have every right to meet the chief minister or the deputy chief minister and also carry out peaceful protest against any arbitrary fees hike.”

It has been brought to the notice of the AAP government that protesting students of the Guru Gobind Singh Indrap-rastha University were threatened with rustication and filing of defamation cases by the private colleges affiliated with the university. One college continued to threaten students on Monday, for taking their woes to the chief minister.