New Delhi, December 5: Union Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha that the Central government had increased the room rent in Jawaharlal Nehru University students after 40 years. The HRD minister stated that the fees were raised to meet the increased expenditure on the maintenance of hostels and to run them on no profit no loss basis.

Answering a question in the Upper House during the Winter Session, Pokhriyal said, "JNU has informed that 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." JNU Explains Rationale Behind Fee Hike, Says University Has a Deficit of Rs 45 Crores, So 'Levying Service Charge is Necessary'.

According to the data, the Centre has proposed a hike in the hostel charges for JNU students till Rs 3,600 per annum (double occupancy) and Rs 7,200 (single occupancy). For the students from below-poverty-line families, the revised annual charges are Rs 1,800. Currently, the room rent for students is being charged at Rs 10 (double occupancy) and Rs 20 (single occupancy) every month.

Apart from this, the Centre had proposed a mufti-fold hike and added a new service charge of Rs 1,700 per month, which would take the monthly hostel fee up to Rs 2,000-2,300. However, other costs including establishment (Rs 2,200 per annum), mess (Rs 3,000 per month) and annual fees (Rs 300) remain the same. Following the proposed hike in the fee is granted, JNU will become the most expensive central university in the country.

It is to be known that the students and the teachers of the prestigious public-funded university have been demanding the rollback of the proposed fee hike, which might force 40 percent of the students -- below the poverty line category -- to leave the university. As per to an estimate, the new revised charges of JNU -- annual hostel fee and mess fees -- mount to a whopping Rs 55,000 - Rs 61,000, which currently stands at Rs 27,000 - Rs 32,000 annually.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 05, 2019 03:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).