Students at the University of Kashmir have demanded waiving off of semester fees owing to the financial constraints faced by their families due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
Students say that they are not in a position to pay the entire fee.
A student of the Bio-Chemistry department at the varsity said that they had brought the issue of relaxation in the semester fee to the notice of authorities there.
“Initially, we were asked to pay 50% of the fees and we deposited the same, now we are being asked to deposit the rest of the amount, we are not in a position to do so,” said the student and added that their semester exams were approaching, they have been going through mental agony thus hitting their preparation for exams.
Registrar of the University of Kashmir Dr. Nisar Ahmad Mir while talking to The Kashmir Walla said that months ago students at the varsity demanded relaxation in the fee, they took note of their demands asked students to pay 50% fee and simultaneously submitted a proposal for the same to the Higher Education Department (HED) suggesting 20-25% relaxation in the fee.
” HED has consolidated the proposal of the University and colleges in Kashmir but has not taken the final call in this regard to date,” Mir added.
He further added that the fee at the university for an academic year is nominal with an exception for payment seats ranging between 8000- 13000 INR and is affordable for students from the lower middle class even. “We have not asked anybody to pay the rest of the fee as of now but have been waiting for the directions from the HED.”
The decision of waiving off fee was not in their domain as it was to be reimbursed by the government towards University, said Mir and added, “if the proposal is accepted by the authorities, students still may have to pay 75 t0 80 percent of the total fee of the course they are registered in.
