*Officials justify move
Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Nov 29: As scores of students missed the deadline for submitting their semester examination forms due to the non-availability of internet services, the Kashmir University is charging hefty amounts from the students as late fee.
Students belonging to various semesters-particularly the 4th semester-enrolled under various courses told Excelsior that the Varsity authorities were resorting to ‘extortion’ by charging Rs 1500 from them as late fees.
“Given the fact that we could not submit the examination forms on time due to various factors in August; then everything came to a grinding halt; then the deadline was extended, but we could not come to know about that due to the situation that emerged after August 5,” a student said.
The students initially pleaded with the Varsity authorities to open the link for the submission of examination forms; however, they were made to do rounds of the cabins of the officials.
“We were asking them that to open the link on the humanitarian basis, because everybody is aware of the situation; if the internet would have been working, we would have got it done earlier; but they wouldn’t listen,” said another student of Semester 4.
There are more than 50 students from various departments who could not submit their examination forms on time and were pleading the authorities to consider their cases keeping in view the extra-ordinary situation.
For them, the relief came on November 26, when an official of the University wrote to the Controller Examinations that instead of listening to such cases individually, they should open the link for those left out and charge them with the late fees of Rs 1500.
The students, while complaining about the move, said that they had no option but to submit the examination forms along with the late fee before the deadline. “We were supposed to wait one long year if we did not submit the form on the mentioned date; we had no other option,” said another student, adding that the University administration was resorting to ‘unjust’ moves.
When contacted, Controller Examinations, University of Kashmir, Farooq Ahmad Mir justified the move of levying the late fee saying that such steps help in ‘bringing seriousness’ among the students. “The students take such things lightly and that’s why we are forced to charge late fee from them; other Universities charge Rs 1000 per day as late fee,” he said, adding that the late fee has been charged as prescribed by their parent departments.
What is interesting is that the normal examination fee is far less than the late fee that the students were charged with. “We had to pay Rs 2510 in total-the sum which includes Rs 1500 late fee; the basic examination fee is just Rs 600 or Rs700,” the students said.
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