In July 2015, when Rajan Dalal, 24, of Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh took admission in the Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) course at Patanjali Ayurvedic College, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, his annual fee was Rs 80,000. However, in October 2015, three months after the admissions, he was told to pay around Rs 2 lakh every year for the same course as the fee had been hiked. So, Rajan, the son of a farmer, had to take an education loan to continue his studies.

There are thousands of students, like Rajan, who had to take an education loan to continue their studies due to increased fees among private Ayurvedic medical colleges in Uttarakhand. Now, these students are worried as to how they would repay this loan because the college administration is threatening them, preventing them from appearing in the examination and warning them of degree hold-ups.

This is the plight of more than 4,000 Ayush students studying Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) in 16 private Ayurvedic medical colleges in Uttarakhand, whose annual fee was increased from Rs 80,000 to around Rs 2 lakh. However, the high court has deemed the fee hike against the rules and ordered the state government to refund the increase in fees to the students. 

Despite the court and the order of the government, these private colleges continue to act arbitrarily and are pressurizing the students to pay increased fees. The agitating students allege that the college administration is threatening to bar them from the examination and holding back their degrees. Because of this, the students are suffering. Their studies are constantly getting affected and they are feeling demoralized. 

These students are demanding that the increased fees be rolled back as per the order of the high court and the students who have already been charged increased fees should get a refund as per the court orders. The colleges have taken a strong stand in the matter. They are strongly opposed to fees refund and have filed a reconsideration petition against the High Court order.

What is the whole case?

The case first surfaced in October, 2015, when the annual fee for Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) course in private colleges of Uttarakhand was increased from Rs 80,000 to around Rs 2 lakh. The students challenged this increased fee in the High Court. The students argued that the fee hike was against the rules as it happened in the middle of the session without any fee regulatory committee’s suggestion.

In December, 2016, a single bench of the Uttarakhand High Court imposed a stay on this fee hike. In July, 2018, the court also admitted that the fee is against the hike rules. No fee hike can be made without the advice of the Regulatory Committee. The High Court also ordered the colleges to refund the fees of the students who were charged on the basis of increased fees. 

The colleges appealed to the double bench against this order of the single bench of the High Court. But the double bench also rejected the appeal of the colleges and ordered the state government, in October, 2018, to ensure that no student is charged with increased fees. Further, it was also ordered to return the fees of the students who have been charged increased fees, within six months. 

After this order of the High Court, the government issued a mandate and withdrew the fee hike. But the college administration was adamant about charging the increased fees. They pressurized students and parents that if they do not deposit fees, their (students’) careers will be ruined. Students also provided some audios and videos wherein people from college administration are shown intimidating the students after locking them in a room. On the other hand, many colleges have filed a reconsideration petition against the current order of the double bench which lies pending in the court.

Seeing the disregard of the Supreme Court orders and the mandate by the colleges, the students sat on protest in October, 2019. Ayurveda students staged numerous marches and protests in different parts of Uttarakhand against the fee hike. Thousands of Ayurveda students staged a protest at the parade ground in the capital, Dehradun for 62 consecutive days. Some students also sat on hunger strike. 

Lalit Mohan Tiwari, one of the students who sat on the hunger strike, told Gaon Connection over the phone: “It is the total anarchy of the colleges, which you can see clearly. The students protests never affected them, but their disregard even for the High Court and the order of government clearly shows that the college administration does not fear any student, government or court.”

Talking about the link-up between the college management and politicians, he said: “This is because most of the colleges in Uttarakhand belong either to the relatives of the big leaders of the state or a powerful man. For instance, Tushit Rawat, the son of minister Harak Singh Rawat, is the director of the Doon Institute of Medical Sciences. Similarly, Aarushi Nishank, daughter of the Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, is the chairperson of the Himalayan Ayurvedic College. Similarly, Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balakrishna, who own and run Patanjali Ayurvedic College, have their own political domination in the state and the country.”

Balakrishna was also accused of threatening the students on the issue of fee hike. One of his videos had even got viral over the social media. After the assurance of the chief minister and senior ministers of the Uttarakhand government, the agitating students ended their protest after 62 days. Thereafter, the chief minister again issued a mandate and ordered that the affiliation of the colleges which did not refund the fees would be revoked under Section 37A of the University Act. 

The students allege that even after that the colleges are defying the High Court and the government and pressurizing the students to deposit the increased fees. The students also allege that they are intimidated by the college administration and that they are mentally harassed and threatened with career ruin. The ongoing conflict between the students and the college is affecting the teaching as well as the sessions and the examinations are also getting delayed.

“They do not seem to be in mood to refund the college fees,” said Prakhar Mishra, a third-year student at Devbhoomi College, Dehradun, over the phone. He added: “They are not afraid of either the High Court or the government. The chief minister had assured that the defaulting colleges would be acted against, but no action has been taken. These people are doing as they please. They are in possession of the money which they had taken from the students as increased fees. But instead of refunding it, they ask us, students, to pay more.”

As per the latest developments, examination admit cards of many students were not issued and it was tried to prevent them from appearing in the sessions examination before the main examination. On the night of January 24, 2020, the students protested against it in front of the Uttarakhand Ayurvedic University and only then the students were allowed to appear in the examination. The January 25 examination was, however, postponed. 

A very frustrated Prakhar said: “What could be more sad than us sitting on a protest for an admit card a night before the exam, while at that time, we should have been in our room preparing for the exam. They (the college administration) want to show that you may win in the court but cannot win in the college campus. They speak openly that they will not return the money. We are facing disappointment everywhere. Despite getting justice, we are not being delivered one.”

Talking about the students’ allegations, Ashwani Kamboj, the chairman of the Association of Private Medical Colleges in Uttarakhand, said: “The matter is currently going on in the court. We have filed a petition in the High Court against the decision of the double bench of the High Court. We will be able to make a comment only after the decision is made.” He then he refused to answer any questions. 

Gaon Connection tried to contact the vice-chancellor of Uttarakhand Ayurvedic University, Sunil Kumar Doshi over the phone and e-mail in this regard, but did not get any response.