Students of Azim Premji University staged a long and hard demonstration against the authoritative APU administration starting from the 13th of February that is continuing for more than 10 days. The anger and discontent among the students burst forth in the form of this agitation on the specific demand of revocation of shuttle fees and the larger demand of exclusion of students in decision-making processes.
The current campus is located in Sarjapura in the outskirts of Bangalore close to Tamil Nadu border. Despite the campus being built in such a remote, rarely populated area, the administration has not yet built a hostel inside the campus. As a result many students are forced to stay outside in a makeshift hostel by the name of ‘King George Avenue’ that is almost 3 km away from the campus. Now, the university is charging an unjust fee of Rs. 8,500 per semester per student for bus shuttle service to and fro from the hostel. Even the students studying under 100% scholarship are being compelled to pay this fee. The students who are financially incapable of paying this fee have been asked to give their labour in the form of assistantship in lieu of this amount. It must be noted that the said stretch is extremely unsafe. There have been several instances of students being molested, harassed, and mugged while walking. Now, the university is forcing them to pay for their own safety.
When the students took admission at APU, they were not notified of this fee. The shuttle/transport fee was not explicitly mentioned in the university’s website or even specified with the amount and other details at the time of paying the acceptance fees. This also violates the UGC’s Student Entitlement guidelines which clearly states that “The students are entitled to prior and full information about amount, components, frequency and mode of any kind of payment including fees or charges of any other kind and refund rules”. Despite all these, the university is now adamantly refusing to revoke the shuttle fees. This is not the first time that the students are protesting- last year as well students held protests and decided to not pay the fees. In the meantime the university went to the extent of grabbing the sum of Rs. 5,000 paid as acceptance fee by the students and assistantships as partial shuttle fees.
Since the protests started there has been very little response from the administration’s end. Students have spent days and nights in the common area in the hope of justice- rallies were taken out, classes were boycotted, missing person posters seeking the VC were pasted all over the campus, and cultural events marking dissent were organised. On the 10th day the students could meet the VC Indu Prasad, although the memorandum presented by the students was not accepted formally by her. In response to this callous attitude of the administration, the students gheraoed the VC demanding a proper answer through an open house meeting. From 22nd February, the students started an indefinite relay hunger strike in continuation of the protest. On 23rd, the VC sent a mail threatening initiation of disciplinary action against all protesting students.
The grit and perseverance displayed by the students of APU is unprecedented in the history of the campus that has forever been tightening its iron grip against dissent in campus. There have been instances of faculty members being harassed as well for expressing dissent against the ruling BJP regime. Tenets of the National Education Policy 2020 are also widely championed inside the campus. Bangalore being a city with a ban on student unions, such movements are dim and far apart. Hopefully, the APU example will give a new political direction in campus activism in the city.
Lastly, Azim Premji- founder of Wipro is one of the richest in India. This university run by the Azim Premji Foundation is one of his ‘philanthropic’ efforts towards providing accessible education. Efforts are made to maintain ‘diversity’ both in terms of identity and economic conditions during admissions. This unjust imposition of shuttle fees makes this whole idea of philanthropy ring hollow.
