If rising inflation wasn’t enough to make a dent in the budget of outstation students in the capital, the ongoing talks about a hike in the hostel fees has added to their woes. As many find it hard to cope with rising expenses, they feel that a rise in the hostel fees could further lead to agitation among students.
Kunal Chikara, a Hindu college student says, “I was a fresher last year when the fees shot up by `4,000. I’m not sure whether our college is planning to hike the fee once again. Even if it does, I don’t really have an option but to shoulder it. But I don’t think many of us can afford such an escalation in the fee structure and students will definitely protest against such a move.”
For Rohit Chawla, a student from Karnal, a hike in hostel fees would not fit his budget and he’ll have to rethink his plans of shifting to a hostel. “I was planning to shift to a hostel this year. But now I don’t think I can. If the fee structure changes further I won’t be able to opt for a hostel, and will have to look for a PG instead. Going by the way hostels are planning a fee hike, our budget will take a serious beating. So it’s better to opt for a PG as it will at least mean lesser restrictions,” he says.
A fresher at Miranda House will now have to pay `40,000 as hostel fee, which is `11,000 more than the last session. More such changes in other colleges are on the cards. Some colleges however, are taking it easy. Kasturi Kanthel from LSR tells us, “We are planning to hike the water charges as our water bills are exorbitant and we haven’t been able to meet them. There is going to be a hike but very minimal. I don’t think it will affect the overall budget of students.”