ABVP city secretary Prithvi Teja criticised the university for imposing heavy financial burden on students.
Hyderabad: Osmania University students claim that they are struggling after exam fees were tripled. In a protest on Monday, over a hundred students, led by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), gathered in front of the university’s administrative block and demanded that the hike be reversed.
ABVP city secretary Prithvi Teja criticised the university for imposing heavy financial burden on students. He noted that poor and middle-class students, especially those from remote villages, work hard to secure seats in the university and were being forced to pay thousands of rupees just to write exams. The additional costs of revaluation and supplementary exams have only worsened their situation.
"Exam fees should not be higher than tuition fees. The university cannot run on students’ money alone. If the administration depends on exam fees to function, it means they have failed to get enough funds from the government," he said.
Exam fees are over Rs 2,000 now which is not the case in other colleges, noted Praneet, a student, adding that students who once saw Osmania as an affordable place to study now fear they might be forced to drop out.
The student body put forward four demands. They want a reduction in all exam fees, a system where students pay only what it costs to conduct exams, an N+4 rule allowing students to write exams without penalties for four years after course completion, and supplementary exams to be scheduled only after revaluation results are announced.
