Azim Premji varsity students to call off strike over ‘excessive’ fee

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Azim Premji University has directed its students to pay the enhanced charges for shuttle service between the varsity campus and their hostel during their study period. At the time of admission during July 2022, students signed documents, agreeing to pay the complete fees and charges that applied to them.

This was inclusive of shuffle charges for the period July to December 2022 that comes to Rs 8,500, followed by January to May 2022, another Rs 8,500. A majority of the students have paid the fees and the other charges. But some have been protesting, saying they will not pay the fees.

The management gave clear directives to the protestors, asking them to pay their fees as procedures of the admission had clearly mentioned the costs of the shuttle service. The University has, however, said that in case a student has financial limitations, it would waive off the fees fully or partially, which applies to the shuffle service also.

Over 50 per cent of the students have availed scholarship programmes. Students under scholarships should be considered for shuttle fee exemption, said one of the protesting students. "This is a partial victory for us, as it has been repeatedly told that there would be no blanket waiver. We will stop our hunger strike,” the student added.