Students of IIT-Kharagpur gherao staff for 15 hours

Kolkata: Protesting against the recent hike in semester fees, students of IIT-Kharagpur gheraoed several institute officials, including the director, deputy director, dean and registrar, for more than 15 hours since Tuesday.

The gherao was lifted on Wednesday morning following intervention of officials from Hijli outpost inside the institute campus. Students, however, maintained that their protest would continue even as several began a hunger strike.

On December 7, the university issued a notice saying semester fees will be increased by Rs 7,550. This means that the expenses of research scholars and M.Tech students go up to Rs 37,000 (including the hostel charges) from the existing Rs 29,000.

The decision to hike the fee was taken recently and, if enacted, would be effective from January 2017.

A petition demanding rollback was then signed by 1,200 students and sent to the university’s director.

University officials said the decision was taken because the institute was facing difficulty in paying salaries to its employees.

Students, especially those coming from economically weaker background, said that despite receiving the stipend, it was very difficult to sustain.

According to agitating students, the fee hike was only for IIT-Kharagpur while no such hike took place in other IITs in the country.

Students holding placards and shouting slogans demonstrated in front of the Director Building on Tuesday and prevented the officials from leaving the university premises.

“The director and the registrar have talked to the students this morning and it has been decided that the problem would be solved through a dialogue. Although the fee structure remains as it was but there is a possibility of a restructuring after another round of meeting with the students,” said a senior official of the institute.