Burdened With Loans, Students at IIT Guwahati Fight for Fairness

On Tuesday (July 22), over a hundred students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati gathered in protest—peaceful, resolute, and rightfully angry. Their grievance was simple, yet deeply telling: a sudden and steep hike in academic fees across various programmes, including PhD, MTech, and BTech, without prior consultation or consideration of its impact on those most vulnerable.

This is not just a question of numbers or institutional budgeting. It’s a question of fairness, accountability, and empathy—values one would expect from an institution of national importance. Instead, what students received was a ₹10,000 fee hike with barely a warning, affecting even those who were already enrolled and struggling to make ends meet.

PhD scholars—many of whom are older, married, supporting families, or repaying education loans—are especially hit hard. Unlike undergraduate students, many research scholars juggle teaching assistantships and academic duties while surviving on modest stipends. An abrupt financial burden of this scale may seem like a small line item to the administration, but for the students living on tight monthly budgets, it can mean choosing between essentials and education.

Even MTech and BTech students, who already bear the weight of rising hostel, mess, and tuition charges, are now expected to stretch their families’ finances further. The timing is especially poor—mid-semester fee hikes not only disrupt financial planning but also erode trust in the institution's governance.

One can argue that running a world-class technical institute demands money—and indeed, public funding for education has been declining steadily across India. But that cannot justify unilateral decisions that treat students as mere revenue streams rather than stakeholders. If anything, institutes like IIT Guwahati should be advocating for increased public investment in higher education, not shifting the burden onto students.

What adds insult to injury is the lack of effective communication. Students had already raised their concerns during an open session with the administration on July 17. Yet, their pleas seem to have been met with bureaucratic silence. When the very body that is meant to guide and support young minds chooses not to listen, protests become not just inevitable—they become essential.

This episode at IIT Guwahati is part of a worrying trend across Indian academia. Fee hikes are becoming the norm, often without due transparency or consultation. Elite institutions are slowly pricing out the very students they were meant to uplift. For every student who can bear this financial load, there are many who will quietly fall through the cracks—dropping out, postponing degrees, or forgoing higher studies altogether.

The moral failure here lies in the institute’s inability—or unwillingness—to consider the human cost of its decisions. Education, particularly in a country like ours, must remain a right, not a privilege bought with sudden and steep price tags.

IIT Guwahati owes its students more than just a bill. It owes them an explanation, a dialogue, and above all, a vision of education that is equitable, inclusive, and humane.

Until then, the protestors stand not only against a fee hike, but against the creeping commercialization of public education in India. And they deserve our attention, not just as students—but as the conscience of our academic future.

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