Alumni of Indian Institute of Mass Communication Extend Solidarity To Students Protesting Fee Hike

iimc

We, the alumni of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), express our solidarity with the current batch students who have entered the seventh day of  protest against feet hike. We do understand the hike was not introduced mid-session but the existing structure is deeply problematic. As many as 120 alumni from different batches and courses have given individual line of consent for the letter. Their names along with their courses and batches have been mentioned.

We have written to the secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting who is chairman of the IIMC Society which governs the institute. We have sent a copy to the Director General of IIMC

We are of firm belief that the decision to increase fees by 10% annually, is anti-education and anti-student and demand that it be rolled back with immediate effect. The fee structure of IIMC needs to be reexamined by all the stakeholders, including students and officials. The current structure is also too much a burden on the students regarding which we have given details in the letter.

The IIMC in a statement issued on December 8, 2019 said it is not a ‘funded institute’ while the website of the institute says, it is very much so. We  have attached necessary documents with our letter. It is utterly shocking for us to learn that IIMC has turned from being an institute funded by Government of India to one which has to generate a third of the fund from internal revenue. Not only this change has come without adequate discussion among all stakeholders but also the institute’s website still fails to enlist such crucial information for the perusal of citizens of India.

We are enclosing our letter to the ministry, and also attaching the two annexures sent along with it, for your perusal. We hope you would give it a wide publicity in the interest of the institute.

For further enquiries, you may contact:

Rohin Verma

IIMC alumnus

2014-15 batch

Mob: 9013971997

Dear Sir,

We, the alumni of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), write to you to draw your attention to a host of issues affecting our beloved alma mater, including the recent increase in fees for the courses it offers.

Here, it won’t be out of place to mention that current students of the institute have been protesting against the fee hike for more than a week now.

As you know, IIMC offers post-graduate diploma courses for Print Journalism in various languages, including English (EJ), Hindi (HJ), Odia, Urdu and Malayalam; Radio and Television Journalism (RTV) and Advertisement and Public Relations (AD-PR).

Here is a tabulation of the fees (in rupees per annum) for the various courses charged since academic year 2009-10 showing the increase over the years:

 

YEAR PG DIPLOMA RTV

Per cent hike in a given year from 2009-10 in brackets

PG DIPLOMA AD-PR

Per cent hike in a given year from 2009-10 in brackets

PG DIPLOMA  EJ

Per cent hike in a given year from 2009-10 in brackets

PG DIPLOMA HJ

Per cent hike in a given year from 2009-10 in brackets

PG DIPLOMA Odia/Urdu/Malayalam

Per cent hike in a given year from 2009-10 in brackets

2009-10 76,000 48,000 34,000 34,000 20,000
2010-11 84,000

(10%)

53,000

(10.4%)

38,000

(11.8%)

38,000

(11.8%)

22,000

(10%)

2011-12 92,000

(20%)

58,000

(20.9%)

42,000

(23.5%)

42,000

(23.5%)

24,000

(20%)

2012-13 92,000

(21%)

64,000

(33%)

46,000

(35.3%)

46,000

(35.3%)

26,000

(30%)

2013-14 92,000

(21%)

70,000

(45%)

50,000

(47.1%)

50,000

(47.1%)

28,000

(40%)

2014-15 1,00,000

(45%)

77,000

(60%)

55,000

(61.8%)

55,000

(61.8%)

30,000

(50%)

2015-16 1,10,000

(45%)

85,000

(77%)

60,000

(76.5%)

60,000

(76.5%)

33,000

(65%)

2016-17 1,20,000

(57%)

93,500

(94%)

66,000

(94.1%)

66,000

(94.1%)

36,000

(80%)

2017-18 1,32,000

(73%)

1,02,000

(112%)

72,000

(111.8%)

72,000

(111.8%)

39,000

(95%)

2018-19 1,45,000

(90%)

1,12,000

(133%)

79,000

(132.4%)

79,000

(132.4%)

43,000

(115%)

2019-20 1,68, 500

(121%)

1,31,500

(173%)

95,500

(181%)

95,500

(181%)

55,500

(175%)

(This does not include library fee, student welfare fund and other college expenses)

The fee increase by 121%, 173%, 181%, 181% and 175% in RTV, AD-PR, English and Hindi journalism courses and regional language courses, respectively, in a decade is staggering by the standards of any government-run institute in India.

A press statement by the Institute (dated December 8, 2019) stated: “IIMC is not a funded education institution but an autonomous body under I&B ministry. As per a memorandum of understanding signed with the parent ministry, autonomous bodies are required to generate a third of their budget as internal revenue.” The statement does not reveal when the memorandum was signed; nor does the institute’s website mention any memorandum bearing any such information.

On the other hand, the website states: “The IIMC Society, an autonomous body registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1867, runs the Institute. It is funded by the Government of India through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India.” (http://iimc.nic.in/Content/8_1_About%20IIMC.aspx). A screenshot to this effect is attached as annexure 1.

It is a matter of shock for us that IIMC has turned from being an institute funded by the Government of India to one which has to generate a third of the fund from internal revenue. Not only has the change come without adequate discussion among all stakeholders, but also the institute’s website still fails to list such vital information for the perusal of the country’s citizens.

Even taking up the December 8 statement at its face value raises the question whether putting the financial burden on the students was the only option? Such a move is bound to move the institute away from catering to the masses.

May we also recall that at an executive council meeting a decade ago it was decided that course fees would be increased by 10% every year. While that itself, to our mind, is unreasonable, the increases in fees between 2018-19 and 2019-20 are way above that level: 27% for language journalism courses, 17% for AD-PR and 16% for all other courses.

Here, we would also like to cite the examples of similar courses offered by other public institutes: At the Banaras Hindu University, a student can complete a post-graduate course for less than Rs 2,000 for two years. Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi charges Rs 70,000 for its two-year post-graduate degree course. Its self-financed broadcast journalism course which is similar to IIMC’s RTV course stretching over ten months costs Rs 74,000.

IIMC’s massive fees are topped up by the charges its students have to pay to avail of hostels: a steep Rs 5,250 per month for men (on a triple-sharing basis) and Rs 6,500 per month for women (single-occupancy). All male students at the Delhi campus are not even accommodated and those left out have to arrange for their own accommodation without any scope of reimbursement.

You must be aware that a sizeable section of the students of this prestigious institute come from weak financial background. Many have to borrow and/or mortgage family assets to finance and facilitate their studies. There are several whose families survive on daily wages. Freeships to select students, as the institute claims, are no panacea because it affects a larger landscape.  

How much the steep fees affect such education seekers is evident from the fact that 28 reserved category seats remained vacant despite re-examination.

We, the former students of the institute, are of the firm belief that this fee hike is anti-education and anti-student and demand that it be rolled back with immediate effect; that the decision to increase fees by 10% annually be suspended for all the upcoming sessions and reexamined by all stakeholders, including students and officials, until a consensus is reached; and that IIMC’s fee structure be brought on a par with other public educational institutions.

Besides the fee structure, the fact that none of the five regional centers—Aizwal, Amravati, Kottayam, Jammu and Dhenkanal–have even a single full-time faculty member is also something which deeply worries all of us.

We, the undersigned hope you would sincerely look into these issues in the best interest of our alma mater. We have given individual line of consent to this letter in our individual capacities as alumni of the institute and do not represent any organization.

A hard copy of this letter is also being sent to you.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes and regards

Alice Gauram—1992-93, English Journalism (EJ)

Anshu Gupta—1990-91, Hindi Journalism (HJ) and 1991-92 and Advertisement & Public Relations (AD-PR)

Ramesh Muniyappa—1991-92, EJ

Alok Gupta—2001-02, EJ

Avtansh Chitransh—2002-03, HJ

Abhishek Shrivastava—2002-03, HJ

Joyjeet Das—2002-03, EJ

Anusha Chandrashekharan—2002-03, EJ

Sahasranshu Mahapatra2006-07, EJ

Jaya Nigam—2008-09, HJ

Syed Hassan Kazim—2006-07, EJ

Avaneesh Kumar—2007-08, HJ

Banjot Kaur—2009-10, EJ

Smita Mugdha—2009-10, EJ

Saquib Iqbal Khan—2011-12, HJ

Varun Shailesh—2008-09, HJ

Amiya Kumar Kushwaha —2009-10, EJ

Heena Saran—2008-09, EJ

Vinayak Dutt—2009-10, EJ

Rahul Sankrityayan—2014-15, HJ

Shikha Singh—2009-10, HJ

Arpita Mukherjee—2007-08, AD-PR

SONY SHEETAL TIRKEY—2009-10, Radio & TV Journalism (RTV)

Gajendra Singh Bhati—2008-09, HJ

Shishir Kumar Yadav—2009-10, HJ

Rohin Kumar—2014-15, HJ

Shreya Sethuraman—2009-10, EJ

Vivekananda Singh—2013,14, HJ

Ruby Rani—2009-10, EJ

Anand Dutta—2011-12, HJ

Himanshi Matta—-2009-10, EJ

Amrita Singh—2009-10, HJ

Kanika Kanojia—2011-12, AD-PR

NIRANJAN KUMAR—2011-12, HJ

Mohit Kumar Pandey—2017-18, RTV

Ritika—2016-17, HJ

Bharat Chupal—2008-09, HJ

Meeqat Hashmi, 2012-13, RTV

Sindhuvasini Tripathi—2013-14, HJ

Avinash Dwivedi—2014-15, HJ

Mahima Bharti—2015-16, AD-PR

Saad bin Omar—2009,10—HJ

Vrishali Jain—2015-16, EJ

Pankaj Kumar—2011-12, RTV

Neeraj Kumar —2011-12 (HJ)

Adrija Chatterjee —2014-15, EJ

Sumit Kumar—2012-13, HJ

Amit Raj Singh—2017-18, RTV

Simple S Mishra—2009-10, RTV

Patil Vijay—2014-15, EJ

Shubham Singh Thakur—2017-18, HJ

Jasveni Kaur—2014-15, EJ

Sadhna Yadav—2016-17, EJ

Neha Jha—2011-12, HJ

Prakash Kumar—2009-10, HJ

Pankaj Upadhyaya—2007-08, HJ

Avinash Kumar Chanchal—2011-12, HJ

Gaurab Dasgupta—2014-15, EJ

Abhishek Singh—2018-19, EJ

Rohit Upadhyaya—2014-15, HJ

Vikas Vashisihth—2009-10, HJ

Pari Saikia— 2012-13, EJ

Sunil Kumar—2014-15, RTV

Suraj Pandey—2014-15, EJ

Mandeep Singh—2017-18, HJ

Khushboo Mandal—2016,-17, HJ

Abhishek Shukla—2016-17, HJ

Dheeru Yadav—2016-17, RTV

Khushboo Tiwari—2016-17, EJ

Vaibhav Palnitkar—2016-17, RTV

Ajeet Tiwari—2013-14, EJ

Saket Anand—2016-17, RTV

Srija Naskar—2014-2015, EJ

Anurag Gupta—2016-17, HJ

Jeevan Deep Vishwakarma—2016-17, HJ

Samyak Pandey—2016-17, RTV

Khushboo—2016-17, HJ

Avinash Rai—2010,11, HJ

Sahal Muhammed—2014-15, EJ

Abhishek Sonu—2011-12, HJ

Somrita Ghosh—2012-13, EJ

Guneet Singh—2015-16, EJ

Surbhi Prasad—2012-13, EJ

Shubham Singh Thakur—2016-17, RTV

Shikha Salaria—2013-14, EJ

Vineeta Mandal—2016-17, RTV

Parisha Tyagi—2014-15, RTV

Shubham Manekar—2016-17, RTV

Pranesh Tiwari—2016-17, HJ

Suraj Pandey—2014-15, HJ

Shubham Gupta —2013-14, RTV

Pranesh Tiwari—2016-17, HJ

Aprajita Sharma—2013-14, EJ

NARENDER SONI —2016-17, HJ

Raghwendra Shukla—2016-17, HJ

Pawan Jaiswal—2016-17, HJ

Neelam Gurve—2017-18, HJ

Archana Gupta—2016-17, RTV

Khurshid Ahmad—2016-17, Urdu Journalism (UJ)

Deepankar Patel—2016-17, RTV

Garvit Garg,—RTV, 2017-18

Hemarghya Bal—2016-17, EJ

Tanish Chachra—2018-19, EJ

Shatakshi Asthana—2016-17, HJ

Megha Aryan—2016-17, EJ

Vikas Kumar —2016-17, EJ

Bhavey—2018-19, EJ

Jai Shankar Thakur—2017-18, HJ

Mahin Khan—2016-17, EJ

Tanuja Yadav— 2017-18, RTV

Ankit Kumar —2012-13, RTV

Afzal Alam—2017-18, HJ

Aqueleema Hasan—2017,18, UJ

Shagufta Parveen—2016-17, HJ

Rajkumar Ashuotosh Singh—2017,18, HJ

Krishna Muraru, 2018-19—HJ

Akshay Razdan—2017-18, EJ

Sourabh Kumar—EJ, 2018-19

Abhishek Singh—2018-19, EJ


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