IIT Bombay students are set to start a relay hunger strike from Monday till their demand for a rollback of a recent fee hike is accepted, sources at the institute said.
The fee per semester has gone up by at least Rs 7,000 for PhD, BTech and MTech courses. IIT Bombay on Friday offered a relaxation of Rs 1,800 — charged towards the hostel amenity fund — but the students are leant to have rejected it. The students had set an August 5 deadline for a complete withdrawal of the fee hike.
The fee hike, to be implemented from the current session, is the result of the Union education ministry writing to the IITs to raise resources internally and reduce dependence on the government.
From Monday, students are to sit on a relay hunger strike in batches of five unless their demand is accepted by Saturday, the sources said.
In December 2021, Delhi University decided to increase the university development fee after the University Grants Commission drastically reduced its laboratory grants. The executive council of the public-funded university, which attracts students from across the country, is charging Rs 900 instead Rs 600 towards the development fee from this year.
