ABVP activists gherao JU VC’s office

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 19

Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Thursday gheraoed the office of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jammu. The protesters were led by ABVP state secretary Deepak Gupta. They were protesting against the hike in fees by Rs 15,000 for each student of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology. The fee hike has been categorised under the head of development fund. They said they met the university Vice Chancellor regarding the fee hike but he ignored their demand. “The fee hike has led to unrest among the students of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology,” they said.

Angered over the Vice Chancellor’s alleged dictatorial approach, the ABVP activists gathered at his office to meet the official. They, however, claimed that the Vice Chancellor refused to meet them. Dean Students Welfare Parmeshwari Bali and Prof Naresh Padha tried to pacify the students, saying: “Rs 15,000 is for development of the campus which is being developed at Janglote.” Refusing to end their protest, the students claimed that “the institute was funded by the Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan, which was paying for the building and infrastructure development”.

The ABVP state secretary said they would intensify their protest if the university did not rollback the fee hike decision.