Lucknow: Tension prevailed on the second campus of Lucknow University on Wednesday when a group of students staged a protest demanding the withdrawal of the late fee for the undergraduate course, amounting to Rs 2,000.The students reportedly locked all gates of the campus, disrupting regular academic activities. In the process, the additional proctor, Mohmmad Ahmad, suffered minor injuries. Raising anti-university slogans, a second-year law student, Prashant Pandit, said, “The late fee charged by the university is exorbitant. At LU, students from all sections come for higher studies. Hiking the late fee from Rs 200 to Rs 2,000 is unfair.” Seconding him, Harshit Shukla, also a law student, said, “We sat on a dharna inside the gate. The incident took an ugly turn when the additional proctor tried to open the main gate to allow entry of people waiting outside.” According to Ahmad, the situation escalated near the main entrance when, amid the commotion, his hand got stuck in the main gate, resulting in an injury. “Locking of gates obstructed administrative work, and the protest was a serious breach of discipline. The protest could be peaceful,” Ahmad said.
