NEW DELHI: The dean of student welfare at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Umesh Kadam, on Sunday stated that the students of the university have to pay for the services they use.
Kadam along with assistant dean of student welfare Vandan Mishra and university registrar Pramod Kumar said that the semester examinations are nearing so the protesting students should get back to academics.
“We are ready to talk to the elected hostel representatives and work out the modalities,” Kadam said.
In addition to this, Kadam condemned the ‘anti-social elements’ for vandalising statue of Swami Vivekananda saying the action against students will be taken within two weeks as per the procedure set up by the university.
“Students should not have gone as far as to deface the statue of Swami Vivekananda. The university will follow its procedure in this matter and within in two weeks we will find out the responsible people. We are open for discussion but not with the non-notified student’s union, why should we?” said Kadam. Last week, after the protests by students spilled over, the JNU administration partially rolled back the increase in hostel fees. However, students continued their protest, calling the rollback “eyewash”.
Vandana Mishra, associate dean of the university, alleged that she was confined to her classroom for nearly 30 hours.
“The students wanted me to reject the hostel manual which I didn’t want to because it’s needed. They wanted me resign. I refused and they confined me.” she said.
JNUSU has said it will march to the Parliament on Monday to protest against the hostel fee hike and appeal MPs to take up their cause.
FIR registered against ‘vandalism’
Delhi Police has registered an FIR in connection with the “vandalism” of administration block of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) last week, officials said on Sunday. A complaint was submitted by JNU’s chief security officer, following which an FIR was registered against unidentified persons on Saturday, police said. The administration had submitted photographic and videographic evidence in the matter. The left-backed All India Students’ Association condemned the registration of the FIR.