Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University on Wednesday announced that it was rolling back a proposed hike in hostel fees after simmering unrest among students escalated into a major protest on Monday.
“JNU Executive Committee announces major roll-back in the hostel fee and other stipulations. Also proposes a scheme for economic assistance to the EWS [economically weaker section] students. Time to get back to classes,” education secretary R Subrahmanyam tweeted.
#JNU Executive Committee announces major roll-back in the hostel fee and other stipulations. Also proposes a scheme for economic assistance to the EWS students. Time to get back to classes. @HRDMinistry
— R. Subrahmanyam (@subrahyd)November 13, 2019
The students’ protest on Monday outside the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) building in Vasant Kunj, where the convocation ceremony of the university was organized had left Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, the guest of honour at the convocation, M Jagadesh Kumar, the university’s vice-chancellor trapped at the venue.
Here are 10 points of the controversial decision of the University to raise charges:
1.Despite the “major roll-back”, it was not clear if the proposed increase in hostel charges were completely withdrawn or partially.
2.The university’s hostel committee approved a new manual during a meeting on October 28, without consulting representatives of the students’ union.
3.The decision of the Inter Hostel Administration (IHA) – a body which manages 18 JNU hostels – sparked major objections with the JNU students’ union (JNUSU) organising several protests on the campus demanding its roll back.
4.The hostel committee had introduced a service charge of ₹1,700 a month. The rent for a single-seater room was raised from ₹20 a month to ₹600 a month. For a double-sharing room, it was increased from ₹10 a month to ₹300 a month.
5.The refundable mess security fee was more than doubled to ₹12,000 from ₹5,500.
6.The JNUSU concedes that revision has been proposed after a long time but the administration needs to consult the student community regarding the fee hike and questioned the logic of raising the fee for a double-sharing room from 10 a month to ₹300 a month.
7.The proposed fee hike was not the only bone of contention. The hostel manual also mentions several rules such as hostel residents not being allowed in another person’s room after 10:30 pm, mandatory permission from wardens for night outs, prohibition of cooking in hostel rooms and a fine of ₹10,000 for breaching hostel norms.
8.The JNUSU claims that many rules in the hostel manual are “regressive.”
9.It is also not clear if the JNU Executive Committee has also been watered down the hostel manual.
10.The students’ protests on Monday were backed by the JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) which also and demanded the resignation of the varsity’s vice-chancellor.
Source: HindustanTimes