Students oppose fee collected to provide rank certificates

Undergraduate and postgraduate students, pursuing various courses at state-run universities in the state, recently registered their protest against the fee collected to provide rank certificates.

The students have questioned this practice prevalent in most universities and want it to be discontinued.

Speaking to DH, a group of students said, "Ranks have not come to us easily. We worked hard and secured ranks. Now, why do we have to pay to get the certificates?"

"We have paid fees for examination and the convocation. Why do we need to pay again for a rank certificate? With the university demanding money for everything, we feel like giving back our ranks," the students said.

Anagha R, a student, said, "Paying for a rank certificate feels like I am buying it. We earned it by studying hard and it is the responsibility of each university to acknowledge the efforts of students."

When contacted, a senior official of Bangalore University said that this is a major source of income for the university. "If we remove it, we will get an audit objection as it is one of the sources of income," an official stated.

Supporting the students, Sithara H M, Bangalore District Vice President, All India Democratic Students Organisation, said, "The universities should depend on the government for finances and not on students. Unfortunately, most of our universities' source of income are students and making them pay for a rank certificate is pathetic."

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