The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration has written to the University Grants Commission demanding that grant worth ₹11 crore, which is long overdue, be released to facilitate disbursal of non-NET fellowship money.
JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar said several students had not received their fellowship money for the last few months as the UGC had not released about ₹11 crore to the university.
V-C meets UGC officials
“The Vice-Chancellor has held several discussions with UGC officials to address this issue. The goal is to resolve the problem at the earliest, since it has severely affected a large number of students,” said Mr. Kumar. Recently, students claimed Sutlej Hostel had stopped food for over 200 hostelers after they were not able to pay their mess bills, allegedly because they had not been given their fellowship money.
Following this, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) had said, “Not a single penny will be paid as mess dues until the administration releases the fellowship money. All hostel presidents are requested to take up the issue with their respective hostel wardens.”
The Inter-Hostel Administration of the university, however, later allowed the students to continue to avail of mess facilities. Other defaulters were asked to pay their mess dues on time.
Hoping for the best
Mr. Kumar said he hoped the UGC released the outstanding amount immediately to alleviate the hardships of the students and to allow the university to function optimally. The students said life would come to a standstill if they did not receive the money at the earliest. Meanwhile, the JNUSU said they had been informed by the Registrar at a meeting that the money would come by the first week on May. They added that such delays during the semester season would not be tolerated at any cost.
