Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Feb 10: Members of the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) on Sunday staged a protest against the Indian Institute of Science’s (IISc) recent decision to sharply increase its tuition fees.

The agitation followed IISc’s announcement that the annual fees for its Bachelor of Science (BS) programme would be raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 80,000 starting from the 2026–27 academic year. The protesters termed the 700 per cent hike as a “direct assault on the accessibility of higher education”.

Student activists gathered at Malleswaram and raised slogans opposing what they described as the “commercialisation” of premier research institutions.

AIDSO state treasurer Subhash BJ said such a steep fee increase would effectively close the doors of the country’s top science institute to students from poor and middle-class families.

The protesters demanded an immediate rollback of the fee hike and appealed to the central government to enhance funding for research and higher education institutions, instead of compelling them to generate revenue through increased student fees.