Fergusson College To Hike Fees For New Admissions, Students Demand Rollback
Mehab Qureshi
Pune, October 9, 2020: Following the directions from the Union Grant Commission (UGC), colleges in the country have been requested not to hike any fee structure due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, Fergusson College (FC) has decided to hike the fee structure for new admissions.
The Ambedkarites Student Organisation(ASO) has also condemned the decision to hike the fee structure massively by 98 per cent to 145 percent. “The fee for arts was 2047 and now has been increased to Rs 6070, which is a hike of 145 per cent, for science stream, the fee was 3350, and now it is hiked to Rs 7050, which comes to 98 per cent”, said a member of the ASO.
Harshdeep Suradkar, a student of FC, said, “Our college which is not financially autonomous, has increased fees unreasonable for students of science and arts during Corona crisis.Marginal section aren’t able to afford this”.
Agitating against the decision by the FC administration, a member of the ASO said, “College is closed from the last seven months. Students have no access to campus and facilities available there. Although the college does not have financial autonomy, the administration has been continuously increasing fees from the last three years without any valid reasons. This is a plan to close doors and keep marginal students away from Fergusson College. Students from the marginalized sections cannot afford this raised fee. Many marginalized students may drop out because of the financial crisis”.
Speaking to Punekarnews.in, Dr Ravindrasingh Pardeshi, principal of the college, said, “This decision was made in 2019, by taking prior permission from the Maharashtra Government, Pune University and UGC. This is a natural growth and not a fee hike. This is not a rise in fee structure. The hike is only for the first-year students, and by following all the norms by the State government. Also, if there are any difficulties faced by the student, they are given the option to pay the fee in instalments”.
