No fine will be imposed on students for 2019 fee hike protest at admin block: JNU vice chancellor

New Delhi: The JNU administration will not impose any fine on students who were part of the 2019 protests against fee hike at the administrative block of the university, officials said on Monday.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University will withdraw all the notices issued against the protesting students in the matter, vice chancellor Shantishree Pandit told PTI.

"The competent authority of the university has decided not to impose fine on students who were found to be involved in the 2019 protest," Pandit said.

In 2019, protests erupted in JNU after the administration announced a hike in hostel fees. Several students were served notices in this regard based on the the Chief Security Officers' complaint. A proctoral inquiry for this was slated to be held on November 9.

The students had demanded the withdrawal of the draft hostel manual, in which service charges of Rs 1,700 were introduced and the one-time mess security fee, which is refundable, hiked from Rs 5,500 to Rs 12,000.

The rent for a single-seater room was increased from Rs 20 per month to Rs 600 per month, while the rent for a double-seater room was increased from Rs 10 to Ra 300 per month.

The students from left-affiliated political outfits protested against the move demanding a complete rollback. Students affiliated with the ABVP, the RSS students' wing, also demonstrated against the fee hike.

The students had staged a demonstration at the administrative block, which houses the vice chancellor’s office -- protesting within 100 meters of the block is prohibited by the High Court.

Agitations were also held outside the campus, with students gheraoing the AICTE building -- the venue for the varsity’s convocation -- during which Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal was stuck for six hours.