While Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University grabbed national headlines after its students took to streets over a proposed hike in hostel fees, many other universities have the same gripe. (Photo: PTI)

As universities across India march over the Citizenship Amendment Act, in solidarity with their colleagues in other colleges, another battle plagues the educational institutions in India -- of a spate of fee hikes across premier institutions.

Over the past few months, students from several public universities have protested against "unjustified" hike in fees and have alleged that an increase in fees will make education inaccessible for many.

While Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University grabbed national headlines after its students took to streets over a proposed hike in hostel fees, many other universities have the same gripe.

In Kolkata, six students of Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute (SRFTI) are on an indefinite hunger strike demanding that the authorities roll back the hike in fees. The cost of education has doubled in SRFTI in a span of three-four years -- from Rs 70,000 to Rs 1.4 lakh.

Photo: Twitter/@Mr_VinodPal

In the western part of the country, students from another premier film institute Film & Television Institute of India (FTII) have gone on an indefinite hunger strike. our FTII student leaders - Aadhith V Sathwin, Vivek Allaka, Rajarshi Mujumdar and P R Manikandan - are on a hunger strike since Monday to protest the10 per cent yearly fee hike and also the "exorbitant" entrance exam charge, and demanding a roll-back. Students claim here has been an "exorbitant" rise in the JET (Joint Entrance Test for both FTII and Kolkata-based Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute or SRFTI) application fee.

"From Rs 1,500 in 2015, the entrance exam fee has gone up to a maximum of Rs 10,000 for JET 2020.

"The exorbitant hike in the entrance fee shows that the institute is making itself inaccessible to a large section of aspirants," stated the students in a release.

In Delhi, JNU students are still protesting. As the deadlock over the fee hike continues, many students have now decided to boycott semester-end exams. The institution has seen protests for over a month over the hostel fee hike issue and even though the university has twice offered partial rollbacks, the students have refused to accept them.

JNU ensuring complete exam boycott in Solidarity with the movement against the Fee Hike & IHA manual from today despite all the intimidation & threat.

This is the power of the struggle & unity, which is determined to make the Anti-Education regime bow down. #FeesMustFall pic.twitter.com/fa7sV3VvLl Swati Singh (@itssinghswati) December 12, 2019

The ministry last month set up a three-member committee to recommend ways to restore normalcy in JNU and mediate between students and university administration. The panel has submitted its report but the ministry is yet to take a call on it.

However, such protests are not limited to liberal arts institutions. IIT students have been protesting against a proposed 900 per cent hike in fees for MTech courses. The fee hike, among other decisions, was taken by the Council of IITs in a meeting chaired by Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

#engineersatjantarmantar #mtechfeeshike

All people in and around delhi students should join as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/P95anaXKUy All India Engineering Student Council (@AllIndiaEngine1) October 4, 2019

After sustained resistance, the HRD ministry has deferred the decision to hike the MTech fee in the IITs for further discussion on the issue.

Over 100 former students of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) have written to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry condemning the over 100 per cent fee hike within a span of 10 years and demanding a rollback.

Photo: PTI

The fee increase by over 100 per cent across journalism courses and regional language courses, respectively, in a decade is staggering by the standards of any government-run institute in India, the former students said in the latter.

Despite the protests, the HRD ministry maintains that the government has not issued any directions to central universities to hike fees. HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' made the statement in response to a written question in the Lok Sabha.