NEW DELHI: After a month of protests against the proposed hostel fee hike, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union on Thursday reiterated that the agitation would go on till the university announces a complete rollback. However, the students’ body clarified that it had not yet taken a call on boycotting the exams scheduled next month.
In its report submitted to the government on Tuesday, the high-powered committee, set up by Ministry of Human Resource and Development, under former UGC chairman VS Chauhan, said that while the immediate fund gap should be addressed by the higher education regulator, any increase in fee structure in future should not happen without proper consultation with students’ representatives, this newspaper has learnt.
In a press conference addressed by the JNUSU on Thursday, demanding the review report filed by MHRD’s committee, there was no clarity on whether it would call for a boycott of the exams. “We also want normalcy on campus. We also want to get back to studies. However, the Vice Chancellor is not ready for a dialogue. We did whatever we could to settle the issue. Some lecture sessions are happening. It’s not as if the classes are suspended. However, we haven’t yet decided on whether to boycott the exams,” JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh said.
Ghosh and other post holders of the students’ body also raised concerns on the reported appointment of Saurabh Sharma, of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), as a professor. They alleged Sharma doesn’t meet criteria for selection to the post. They also alleged that the students at the forefront of the protest, including JNUSU vice president Saket Moon and general secretary Satish Chandra Yadav were being targeted by the government. Police and security agencies were being sent to question and “torture” their families, they claimed.
“They are devising tactics to dilute our protest. They have sent police and security agencies to my house, as well as to Satish’s and others to torment our families,” Moon said. He said the students know they have a lot to lose by persisting with their agitation, but their demand is just. “The longer our protest goes on, the more we’ll have to lose. However, things can’t return to normal till there is a complete rollback (of the fee hike proposal),” he said.
JNUTA seeks urgent meet with HRD minister
The JNU Teachers’ Association sought on Thursday an urgent meeting with HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 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 HRD ministry-constituted high-powered committee has been officially made public, nor has the ministry announced any follow up action.