Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur   

Protest against engineering course fee hike

Staff Reporter

Decision will affect students from poor and middle class families, says AISF

NO TO HIKE: Students led by AISF taking out a rally in Anantapur on Monday in protest against the move to hike the engineering course fee.

ANANTAPUR: Students led by All-India Students' Federation (AISF) on Monday took out a procession protesting against the State Government's proposal to hike the engineering course fee. They also staged a `shava yatra' of Chairman of Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education K.C. Reddy.

The students first staged a `shava yatra' at the Sapthagiri Circle with an effigy of K.C. Reddy and performed the `last rites'. Later, they took out a procession raising slogans against the State Government and APSCHE Chairman. Addressing the students participating in the procession, AISF town general secretary Raghavendra said the Government had decided to increase the engineering course fee for Government quota of seats from Rs. 22,000 per year to Rs. 26,000. Similarly, it had also decided to increase the management quota to 20 per cent from the existing 15 per cent.

Both the steps would be detrimental to the interests of students from poor and middle class families wishing to pursue professional education like engineering and medicine.

New colleges

The Government steps were aimed at privatisation of education further, he said and opposed the permission granted to start more new engineering colleges. Some 30,000 out of the 95,000 engineering seats in 220 colleges in the State remained unfilled last year, he added.

He wanted the Government to withdraw its decision to hike the course fee and management quota. The AISF would intensify its protests if the Government went ahead with its `anti-student' policies. AISF leaders Rambabu, Maruthi, Bharati, Soujanya, Anita Reddy and others spoke.

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Protest against engineering course fee hike

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