Cries of "Kam karo, kam karo, fee hike kam karo" echoed across the campus of IIT Guwahati on Tuesday as hundreds of students came together to protest a sudden and sharp increase in their semester fees.

The protest, which began late Monday, gained momentum overnight with students from PhD and MTech programs leading the movement. According to students, the fee hike this year isn’t just limited to research scholars but also affects BTech and MTech students.

The protests started after students claimed that the IIT administration did not keep its word following a recent open house held on July 17. The meeting, attended by the director, deans, and senior officials, was meant to discuss the revised fee structure and hear students' concerns.

"An open house discussion was held last week, and the administration said that they are there to listen to us, but it appears that they were there to buy time,” said a PhD scholar on the condition of anonymity.

The student added that while they were promised a revision of the fee, no clear updates were shared before July 22, the day of semester registration.

Many research scholars said that when they went to their departments to register for the semester, they were stopped from completing the process due to unpaid semester fees. Some students said they had no choice but to pay the increased amount, while most have refused to pay and are demanding a rollback.

"With their research stalled, the students have come out and are protesting in the heat," sources on campus said.

Students say the PhD fee for the July-November 2025 semester has gone up by ₹10,900, rising from ₹34,800 to ₹45,700.

New PhD entrants are reportedly being asked to pay around ₹92,000 for their first semester. With the revised tuition fees, they may need to pay nearly ₹57,000 per semester, which students point out is ₹20,000 more than their monthly stipend.

For part-time scholars, the increase is even steeper. What was once a ₹2,500 semester fee is now ₹25,000, students allege.

Another major concern raised is that IIT Guwahati does not release House Rent Allowance (HRA), something provided by the central government to PhD scholars. At the same time, they are still required to pay a hostel fee.

"This means, IIT-G is pocketing the money twice from us," said another research scholar.

Breakdown of revised fees, say students

  • Mess fees have risen from ₹12,000 in 2019-20 to ₹22,000 now

  • Gymkhana fees have doubled from ₹1,000 to ₹2,000

  • Medical fees went up five times—from ₹100 to ₹500

  • Hostel rent doubled from ₹1,000 to ₹2,000, while the hostel fund increased from ₹600 to ₹2,200

  • Registration/enrollment fees went up from ₹1,000 to ₹2,000

  • Students also claimed a new ‘fest fee’ of ₹1,300 has been added per semester for IIT-G’s annual cultural fest

While the current protests are being led by PhD and MTech students, BTech students are expected to join the movement soon.

At the time of publishing this report, IIT Guwahati has not released any official statement regarding the allegations or the ongoing protests on campus.

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