Aligarh: The All India Jammu and Kashmir Students Association has written to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urging him to take action for immediately rolling back the hike in annual fees at AMU, saying it would deprive thousands of students from underprivileged families from securing higher education.

In a statement on Tuesday, the national convenor of the Association Nasir Khehami said, “The students have been courageously opposing what they see as an arbitrary, unjustified and exclusionary fee hike of up to 36-42 per cent imposed by the university administration.”

“For this session, the fee for some courses has increased by around 30-40 per cent. For example, the B.Lib course fee was Rs 16,000 last year and has been raised to over Rs 22,000,” Khehami said.

He said AMU Proctor Wasim Ali had confirmed that the university has increased fees between Rs 500 and Rs 1,500 for different courses, claiming it is mainly to improve the infrastructure and that it was a collective decision made by various committees.

“However, this explanation does not lessen the crushing burden on the students, many of whom come from socially backward classes, working-class families and economically weaker sections, and are already struggling to meet their daily expenses, including basic meals,” he said in the letter.

AMU spokesman Omar Peerzada said the university was taking prompt steps to address the “concerns of continuing students on issues relating to fee hike”. He said the university has issued a proforma via social media platforms for wider circulation, inviting suggestions from the continuing students (students currently pursuing courses) regarding the recent fee hike. In an official release, the AMU on Tuesday said that Prof M Asmer Beg, the convener of the recently appointed committee on fee hike issue and, has asked bona-fide students to submit suggestions on the fee hike issue by filing a proforma mentioning their demands.

The letter also urged the government to order a probe into the alleged assault and excesses committed on the protestors at the Bab-e-Syed Gate on Friday, when they were allegedly dragged out from the dharna site when they were conducting a peaceful protest.

The Association has in its letter alleged that since there is no elected students union at AMU since the past seven years any peaceful protest is gagged by the AMU authorities who have “no accountability and transparency,” and there is a growing communication gap on the campus in the absence of democratic bodies within the campus.