Student wings launching hunger strike against IOE from today

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Aug. 27: Student wings of the Socialist Front are staging a hunger strike from Sunday in protest against the fee hike by the Institute of Engineering (IOE).

The Front consists of CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified-Socialist), Netra Bikram Chand-led CPN and Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N).

The hunger strike was announced through a joint statement on Saturday signed by chairpersons Pancha Singh, Sudesh Parajuli, Prakash Shahi and Ramesh Yadav of All Nepal National Independent Students' Union, Revolutionary (ANNISU-R), All Nepal National Free Students Union (Unified Socialist), ANNISU-R of Chand-led CPN and Socialist Students Union respectively.

According to the statement, the hunger strike will begin at 8 am on Sunday.

The IOE, which is under Tribhuvan University, revised the fee structure for B.E. and B. Arch on August 10 citing a lack of funds to operate the institution and its constituent campuses. 

As per the revised fee structure of the IOE, the total fee for eight semesters (four years) of B.E. and B. Arch is Rs. 775,720 for full-paying students. It was Rs. 318,880 earlier.

Similarly, the fee for regular students has been increased to Rs. 83,420 from Rs. 68,988. 

In the case of foreign students, the fee ceiling has been set at Rs. 1,599,320. Earlier, foreign students had to pay Rs. 1,492,294.

Sulav Chapagain, President of Pulchowk Campus' Nepal Student's Union (NSU), a student wing of Nepali Congress, is already on his fifth day of the hunger strike on the campus premise.