Robust, integrated security @ JNU soon
NEW DELHI: Given a string of controversies inside the campus in the last few years, the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s executive council has decided to go for a ‘more robust and integrated security service’.The decision was made at the 300th meeting of the Council chaired by JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit two days ago.
While a scuffle between two rival student groups over non-vegetarian food on Ram Navami took place as recently as last month, the central university saw unprecedented violence on January 5, 2020. Over 50 masked people went on a rampage inside the campus and injured scores of teachers and students, including JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh. Even some journalists and social activists Yogendra Yadav were attacked by the mob. The students and teaching communities had criticised the role of the private security agency in both instances.
In other decisions, Council approved the waiver of 70 per cent of the license fee to all the shops allotted by the university which were closed in the wake of the pandemic. The council also resolved to set up an international affairs office in the University for the Internationalization of University as mandated in the New Education Policy, 2020.
For initiating the process of filling more than 700 vacancies, the varsity’s top body approved to send the draft cadre recruitment rules of non-teaching and non-vocational staff to the Union education ministry. The recommendations of the health infrastructure and services review committee to streamline the health facilities for students, faculty, staff members and retired staff also got the nod at the meeting.
Other major decisions in academic matters include allowing MPhil/PhD scholars to avail maternity/child care leave up to 240 days as per UGC rules, grant of recognition to institutes like Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management (AJNIFM), Defense Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), DRDO, International Centre for free and open source software (ICFOSS), Thiruvananthapuram.
Contractual workers end stir after assurance
Contractual sanitation and mess workers have called off their indefinite strike and returned to work after “oral assurance” by the Dean of Student welfare’s (DSW) office that their salary will be credited in the next seven days. The workers had started an indefinite strike on May 4, demanding immediate payment of pending wages of three months, ensuring a 26-day work duty per month, reemployment of retrenched workers and ensuring that salaries are credited by the seventh of every month.