JNU has increased hostel fee after 40 years to meet maintenance expenses: HRD minister

In a written reply, Union HRD Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal asserted that to meet the maintenance of hostels, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has increased hostel room rents. He claimed that it has increased room rents after about 40 years.

New Delhi: Union HRD Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal stated in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Thursday that Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has increased hostel room rents after about 40 years to meet the increased expenditure on maintenance of hostels.

In a written reply over JNU fee hike, the HRD minister replied: "JNU has informed that in order to meet the increased expenditure on the maintenance of hostels and to run them on no profit no loss basis, it has increased room rents after about 40 years."

Students of JNU carried out a protest march with torches inside the varsity campus late on Tuesday and demanded the complete rollback of hostel manual and fee hike.

A four-member committee of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) met a delegation of Ministry of Human Resource Development on November 29, following which, the union president said that the strike will not be called off until their demands are met.

Several cases have also been registered against students over vandalism, etc, since they started their strike over five weeks ago against hostel fee hike.

The students are on protest after JNU administration gave its nod to the new hostel manual, including fee hike.