National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) students are protesting the excessive amount of fee the institute is charging even amid Covid-19 pandemic. While Indian government institutes are trying to provide affordable education, NIFT is charging fees in lakhs from the students enrolled with the institute.

For new sessions, fees for Non-NRI category at its 16 centres across country ranges from Rs 1,18,050 to Rs 1,52,850 for one semester. The students further alleged that the institute has hiked its fees. The fee for seventh and eighth semester, last year was Rs 1,14,350 and Rs 1,01,050 respectively as compared to Rs 1,31,600 and Rs 1,13,200 for the same semesters this year.

Dhruv Jatti from Bangalore Student Community who is fighting for the cause says, “The NIFT issue has inspired many across the nation. Students have now finally begun questioning authorities as to why they are paying the same fee they were paying when classes were being conducted physically.”

Some students have also written to NIFT authorities about the pay cuts and job losses their parents had to face during this pandemic. They have demanded for a 30 percent fees reduction is proposed.

Shreya, AISA Delhi EC member, “Twitter storm was organised on 3rd of August and hashtags were made to trend for the rollback of fees (hike). They tagged everyone, from PMO to Smriti Irani, but we got no response. Instead, NIFT authorities warned students of their Social Media Policy.”

According to NIFT’s policy, students can’t talk against the institute on any social media platform, which has led to several anonymous accounts talking about the issue on Twitter and Instagram. Information corroborated for this piece is also gathered from NIFT students on anonymity.

Bangalore Student Community has written to MP DK Suresh who has sent the letter to the Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani. Students in different centres also resorted to boycotting online classes as a form of protest calling it off on August 6. The protest will be resumed if their demands are not met by August 15.

Source: NDTV