SFI to continue agitation till KAU withdraws fee hike

The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) on Thursday intensified its protest against the fee hike in the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), taking out rallies across all university campuses in the State. A major march was taken out to KAU headquarters in Mannuthy.

The SFI accused the university of implementing an “exorbitant” fee hike and introducing policies linked to the National Education Policy (NEP), which the organisation alleges could “saffronise” education.

“Students are being forced to drop out due to the steep hike in the fee structure. The university has increased fees by up to 35% for the 2025–26 academic year. Now, even undergraduate and postgraduate students have to pay as much as ₹50,000 per semester. This is unacceptable in a public-funded institution,” said SFI state secretary P.S. Sanjeev.

He added that the federation would continue its agitation until the university fully withdraws the decision.

The SFI has been staging protests for over two months, organising campus marches and meeting both the Vice-Chancellor and the Agriculture Minister with their demands. Earlier, a protest march to the Mannuthy headquarters on October 28 turned violent, prompting the police to use water cannons to disperse the demonstrators.

Following widespread criticism, Agriculture Minister P. Prasad intervened and instructed the university to re-admit a student who had taken a transfer certificate because of the fee hike. Although the Minister had earlier promised to consider a reduction, the revised fees were not rolled back, and the new admission process began under the higher fee structure, the SFI leaders alleged. The matter has since reached the Kerala High Court.

Besides the fee issue, the SFI is also demanding that the university withdraw certain NEP-related reforms, including changes in syllabus and course structures. The organisation plans to file an RTI application to seek details of all NEP-linked modifications implemented at KAU.

Responding to questions about whether the protest reflects the growing friction between the CPI(M) and the CPI — especially after the CPI-led agitation against the PM SHRI scheme — Sanjeev said the SFI’s agitation was independent and long-standing. “We have been protesting for two months now. The AISF had also joined us earlier. If the CPI is genuinely opposing the NEP, they must show their sincerity through this agitation at KAU,” he said.