Members of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) staged a protest on Monday demanding reopening of the campus and hostel accommodation for students of 2020 and 2019 batches. They called for an indefinite sit-in outside the office of the Dean of Students (DoS) and urged students to join their agitation.
The university on Saturday had issued guidelines for phased reopening of the campus from September 6, but the students’ body alleged that the administration had made hollow promises. “Following the protest at DoS by JNUSU today, DoS was pressured into meeting the delegation of JNUSU. JNUSU put forth the demands of immediate commencement of allotment of hostel to 2020 and 2019 batches, issuance of identity card to the first year students, improvement in hostel infrastructure and universal vaccination in front of DoS,” the students’ body said.
The protesters said upon receiving no concrete response on any of their demands from DoS, the students’ union has given a call for an indefinite sit-in outside DoS office. “JNUSU appeals to the student community to participate in the sit-in in maximum numbers and intensify the struggle for the immediate allotment of hostels, meaningful phase wise opening of the campus, universal vaccination and improvement in hostel and health infrastructure,” the students’ union said.
The students, carrying banners that read “Mamidala is malafide and all students are bonafide”, raised slogans against the administration. In a Facebook live session later in the day, the university’s vice-chancellor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar and other university officials answered students’ queries ranging from scholarships to hostel allotment, to resumption of physical classes and hostel repair. Dean of Students Sudheer Pratap Singh said the Inter Hall Administration has formed a committee to look into the hostel repair work and some of the urgent repairs have been carried out.
For bigger repairs, they are also trying to get funds, he said. “The hostel allotment will be done for students on the day they arrive on campus. Their documents will be verified on the very first day and they will be allotted rooms. More than 50 per cent of the hostel rooms are lying vacant,” assured Dean of Students Professor Sudheer Pratap Singh.
Regarding vaccination, Kumar said they are working with the government regarding vaccination. Following a marked improvement in the COVID-19 situation here, the Delhi government had earlier announced that schools for classes 9 to 12, colleges and coaching institutions will reopen from September 1.
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