OU research scholars protest high PhD fees

Hyderabad:Osmania University research scholars have expressed frustration over the university’s failure to bring down the hiked PhD course fees. The scholars recently submitted a memorandum to Vice Chancellor Prof. Kumar Molugaram, demanding an immediate rollback of the fees and warning of protests if their concerns were not addressed.

“Two years ago, the fees were arbitrarily increased from Rs 2,000 to as much as Rs 25,000 for some courses, without consulting any committee,” alleged N. Satya, a political science research scholar. “The justification that the government would cover the increased fees as tuition reimbursement has proven false, as no such payments have been made even after two years,” he noted.

Scholars claimed that former VC Prof. D. Ravinder had assured them that the government would reimburse the tuition fees. “Despite his assurance to revert to the old fee structure if the reimbursement did not materialise, he only reduced the fees marginally by ₹5,000,” said R. Kiran, a public administration research scholar.

Prof. Molugaram, who previously served as dean of the faculty of engineering, is said to have shown interest in resolving the matter but attributed the decision to the previous administration. Scholars noted that his response wasn’t particularly encouraging.

Adding to their grievances, the scholars demanded the immediate release of the notification for Category-2 PhD admissions. They argued that delays were impacting the academic aspirations of many students. They have warned of intensified protests if the administration continues to overlook their demands. “If the fees are not reduced soon, we will have no choice but to launch a massive protest,” said another student Vijay Bhaskar.