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The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Friday staged a protest at Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), demanding the immediate withdrawal of the recent fee hike and accusing the state government and the university administration of placing an unjust financial burden on students.
Speaking to ANI during the protest, Kunal Gangta, State President, ABVP Himachal Pradesh, said the student organisation was opposing the steep increase in fees across several university departments. Gangta said that while ABVP understands that operational costs rise with inflation, the university's decision to increase fees by around 20-25 per cent was excessive and unacceptable. "We are protesting against the state government and the Vice-Chancellor over the steep fee hike in Himachal Pradesh University. We understand that inflation increases the cost of running institutions, but that does not justify raising fees by 20-25 per cent. Such an increase is unfair and places an unnecessary burden on students. We demand that the fee hike be revoked immediately." He said. He further said that ABVP activists have been on a hunger strike for the past five days in support of their demands and warned that the agitation would be intensified if the authorities failed to roll back the revised fee structure. "Our activists have been sitting on a hunger strike for the last five days. If our demands are not accepted, the hunger strike will continue, and we will further intensify our agitation. We will continue protesting against the university administration and the Finance Committee until the fee hike is withdrawn." He said. ABVP alleged that the sharp increase in fees would adversely affect students from economically weaker backgrounds and urged the university administration to reconsider its decision at the earliest. The student organisation reiterated that it would continue its democratic protest until the fee hike is revoked. (ANI)
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