LUCKNOW, April 19 -- A day after Lucknow University released the admission forms for undergraduate courses with a 50% increase in the admission form fee and a substantial increase in the semester fee at the time of admission, students associated with the National Student Union of India (NSUI) staged a protest at the university's administrative building on Saturday. The semester fee at the time of admission for the BA (NEP) self-financed courses was between Rs 5,527 and Rs 8,527 last year. Now, it will be Rs 16,330-a rise of 195.45% to 91.50%. Similarly, for B Com (SF) and B Com (Hons) the semester fee at the time of admission has increased by 43.60% and 42.01% respectively. The semester fee at the time of admission for BCom (SF) and BCom (Hons) was Rs 15,830 and Rs 28,330 respectively which has increased to Rs 22,732 and Rs 40,232 respectively. The LLB 5-year integrated course recorded a rise of 81.48% from Rs 26,080 until last year to Rs 47,330 from the new session onwards while BSc maths (SF) recorded an 87% rise, increasing from Rs 14,080 to Rs 26,330. "The increased admission form fee and semester fee for SF courses will lead to an excessive financial burden on students and their families. This is unjust as it threatens equal access to higher education for students from all sections of society," claimed NSUI's Prince Prakash. "NSUI has given the administration a 48-hour ultimatum, stating that if the fee hike is not rolled back, an indefinite protest will begin from Monday. Our demands are: Immediate rollback of the UG entrance application fee hike and reduction of fees for self-financed courses with immediate effect," he said. htc...