The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Thursday said it will hold a protest outside the HRD Ministry on Friday and demand that the recommendations of a committee, constituted to restore the smooth functioning of the varsity, be made public.
The HRD Ministry had constituted a three-member high-power committee to restore normal functioning of the university. The panel had submitted its report to the Ministry on Tuesday.
The students’ union protest is being held to demand that the report be made public and the draft hostel manual, which has provisions for hostel fee hike, be completely rolled back.
The students have been on a strike for a month against the hostel fee hike.
They said the administration is responsible for the academic loss suffered by the students and the semester should be increased.
They said time should be given for all the academic losses incurred. The students also demanded the removal of Vice-Chancellor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar.
Teachers’ demand
Meanwhile, the JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) on Thursday sought an urgent appointment with Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ to press upon the Ministry’s intervention in ensuring that the impasse over hostel fee hike is resolved.
The JNUTA said neither the report submitted by the Ministry-constituted high-power committee has been officially made public, nor has the ministry announced any follow up action, despite the urgency that the situation demands.
The teachers’ association also alleged that the Vice-Chancellor made “another shameless attempt” of scuttling any real resolution to the issue by announcing a new set of hostel charges decided upon through a “completely arbitrary and illegal process”, which “didn’t even have the saving grace” of addressing the concerns raised by the students or the JNUTA.
“Giving more time and space to the V-C therefore will only push the university into a deeper crisis and therefore it is imperative that the HRD Ministry act immediately,” they said.
