Pondicherry University slammed for denying scholarships to students who participated in protests

PUDUCHERRY: Pondicherry University students' council slammed the university's decision to deny scholarships to students, who participated in various protests, and for those with less than 70% attendance.
The council termed the university's decision as “anti-student and anti-constitutional” and an attempt to target and punish students for demanding a campus inclusive of economically and socially weaker sections.
The university issued a direction to the heads of the departments to forward the claims for scholarships from the students subject to the condition that they have more than 70% attendance and they have not participated in the protest during the semester.
Council president Parichay Yadav said the Constitution of India empowers students to protest peacefully. "It is a students' right for scholarship and it is their constitutional right to protest peacefully...Since a lot of students from economically weaker sections depended on the scholarships to pay their semester fees, the university has targeted not just our constitutional right as a student but also has put out on full display its anti-poor attitude," he said.
The council launched a strike in February this year demanding that the administration revoke the fees hike and extend transportation free of cost for day scholars. The council said the university announced an exorbitant hike in fees for all programmes arbitrarily.
Earlier, the members of various students' forums boycotted classes on different occasions to launch agitations against Citizenship Amendment Act and national population register.