Hefty Fee Sans Facilities, Inhuman Living: HPNLU Students Protest Against Varsity's Poor Show

The students of Himachal Pradesh National Law University (HPNLU) have sent an open letter to the Vice-Chancellor raising their voices against the pitiable state of affairs at the varsity including inhumane accommodation, contaminated food being served in the mess and discriminatory hostel timings for girls and boys and hefty fee being charged under various heads for nearly non-existent academic and co-curricular facilities such as moot courts, no access to library after 8PM, no WiFi in hostels etc.

The students have registered their protest against the "inexplicably obtuse administration" as they say the administration has failed to act on their repeat representations besides maintaining non-transparency around the manner in which the hefty annual fee is being utilised.

The letter lists the grievances of the students under various heads and seeks response from the administration within 30 minutes.

Regarding mess food, the students say they are served food that has led to various instances of food poisoning. Besides, the water purifiers in the varsity are out of order on most occasions and are installed in unhygienic places "reeking of dung".

They have also lodged protest against the inhumane surroundings the students are being compelled to live in as the ceilings leak during monsoons and there is no ventilation even as three to four students share one room with an ill-fitted toilet.

It is to be noted that HPNLU was set up in Shimla by the state government in year 2016. Presently, the University functions from the campus of Himachal Pradesh Judicial Academy.

**No transparency on use of hefty fee

The students also rue how the varsity has failed to make public various documents and details pertaining to its functioning and have not disclosed the manner in which the hefty annual fee is put to use as the facilities on the ground remain lacking on various levels.

They question Rs 9,000 charged as moot court fee when no formal training is imparted to students except a single workshop conducted in a half-hearted manner. They also rue how no travelling allowance is provided to students participating in various moots and parliamentary debates due to which students are unable to participate in various such events.

They have sought "justification" for the Rs 1500 journal fee paid by every student each year when a publication is yet to see the light of the day.

They have also questioned the Rs 2000 sports fee and Rs 1000 reading material fee when the sports equipment provided to them are grossly disproportionate and the students have yet to receive anything closely resembling reading material.

The letter also seeks details of multimedia fee, internet charges, Student Bar Council Fund, Student Development Fund too.

24x7 Library, Wi-Fi, Hostel

The letter also seeks an explanation and redressal of students grievance about the library being closed at 8PM due to which students miss out on their academic growth. To make matters worse, most of the hostel lacks Wi-Fi due to which students cannot easily online resources.

The also protest against the discriminatory timings for girls and boys in the hostel as the former are bound to reach the hostel before 7-8 PM while the boys are expected to be back by 9PM.