Postgraduate students of Azim Premji University (APU) in Bengaluru, who have been on an indefinite protest for ten days, have begun a hunger strike from Wednesday, February 22. The students are protesting against the university forcing them to pay a mandatory shuttle fee of Rs 8,500 per semester. The shuttle service ferries students from their KGA hostel, located around three kilometres away, to and from the campus. Students have alleged that the university made it compulsory for even non-users of the service and full scholarship students to pay the fees.
“The Vice-Chancellor, Indu Prasad, was supposed to meet with us on February 21. But she refused to even read the manifesto when we went to the meeting and said the university will not be recalling the decision. This is why we have decided to take the route of hunger protest,” said Priya (name changed), a second-year PG student.
The KGA hostels are located around 2.5 to three kilometres away from the APU campus. Students have on several occasions complained of facing harassment, while walking on the path. While the shuttle services existed before, their frequency increased in 2022 after students protested. However, the students were never asked to pay a fee.
“We received several emails before the final offer letter and none of them had said we would have to pay for the shuttle service. The final offer letter did mention a fee for shuttles, but the wording was very vague and it did not specify the amount to be paid. So we thought that full scholarship students would be exempted from paying the fee. We were asked to pay a refundable amount of Rs 5,000 for securing our seats, but even that was used for shuttle services and we have not yet received the refund,” said Nitin (name changed), a first-year PG student.
The students also alleged that the fee is being deducted from the stipend of those who have taken assistantships at APU. The stipend is generally Rs 10,000, but students have only received Rs 1,500 in their accounts.
“Many students including myself used to send the stipend back home as we are the sole earners in our families. If the university cuts 90% of it for the shuttle service, then what do we do?” Nitin further said.
The students say there are two shuttle buses from the KGA hostels, which have an occupancy of around 60 each. They are insufficient to carry the 300 students who stay at the external hostel during peak time. Most students have to walk to the campus, and even they have been told to pay the shuttle fee mandatorily.
“The University promises on its website that ‘We think everybody should have a chance to study no matter what financial constraints they face.’ The administration is forcing current first-year students residing in KGA to pay for their commute to and from the university. This mandate to pay is arbitrary, as other existing shuttle services are available for all university members free of cost,” the students’ memorandum said. The students have demanded a complete waiver of the shuttle fee and an immediate refund of the money deducted from the students for the shuttle service.