Gag on social media as claimed by the PhD scholars of IIT Indore
PhD scholars of IIT Indore went on a silent protest after the institute proposed a tuition fee hike of 138% for the Ph.D scholars who are currently at IIT Indore. The fee will be increased from Rs 8,350 to Rs 19,900/- per annum. Scholars took to social media to mark their protest. However, students alleged that the administration at IIT Indore blocked twitter on campus making it difficult for students to mark their ‘peaceful’ protest.
A student on the condition of anonymity said that the fee hike for current PhD scholars is irrational. “Our basic argument is very clear. We have taken admission to the institute a long time back, so increasing our fees is wrong. Fees for B.tech was also increased, but that was only for students who took admission for the current academic year. However in our case, old scholars are also being forced to pay,” he said. He also alleged that the infrastructure is in shambles and that students are forced to work in under-construction buildings.
PhD scholars take protest to twitter.
IIT Indore administration has however, refused to buckle under this protest. “We have allowed students to pay the fees in instalments. The infrastructure is not state-of-the-art, but it is also not in shambles as the students claim. All construction will be completed in the next six months. The fees have been hiked keeping in mind the future needs of the students,” said Prof. Nilesh Jain, a professor from IIT Indore.
On questioning them about the ban on social media, Jain strongly refuted the claims. “We have not blocked any social media site. How are these students sending tweets if the site has been blocked? The server or internet might have been slow, but nothing was blocked.”
Students decided to protest in front of the Director’s office in campus yesterday night, in the hope that the fee hike will be rolled back. “The Director has gone abroad, and hence nothing can be done at present. He shall review the situation once he is back.” said Prof. Jain.