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JNU’s draft hostel manual passed amid protests
New Delhi
New Delhi
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) officials on Tuesday said the varsity’s hostel committee passed a draft hostel manual on Monday, hours after the first meeting to discuss the issue was called off after protests by students.
The varsity’s executive council will now give its final seal of approval to the rules.
The Inter Hostel Administration (IHA), which manages 18 JNU hostels, was scheduled to meet on Monday morning to discuss the new hostel manual, a draft of which was uploaded on the JNU website earlier this month. But the administration called off the morning meeting following a protest by students.
“The hostel meeting was adjourned in the morning due to the ruckus. The meeting reconvened again in the afternoon and all hostel wardens were present with some student representatives. The meeting went on well, everything has been passed, and now it will be sent to executive council. All positive and constructive changes were incorporated in the manual,” said Umesh Kadam, dean of students and chairperson of hostel committee.
The changes, however, do not include removal of the 11.30 pm deadline to return to hostels and “appropriate dressing rule” in dining halls—a major point of contention between students and the JNU administration.
The JNU students’ union (JNUSU) also called a two-day university strike on the issue from Tuesday.
Former JNUSU general secretary Aejaz Ahmed Rather alleged that the second meeting “was illegal and was passed without deliberating with student representatives.”
Seven hostel presidents on Monday submitted a letter, saying the decision was not taken in their presence. “Any decision regarding hostels should be passed first through the hostel general body meeting,” read the letter, which called for JNUSU’s inclusion in the meeting.
On Monday, after students protested outside the IHA meeting, Kadam said his blood pressure shot up due to the “ruckus created by the students” and alleged several students held him “captive” along with his family. The administration alleged that students stopped the ambulance carrying Kadam.
“I have registered a police complaint against four students for the ruckus. My family and I are continuously being threatened by these people on social media and I have requested the police to ensure our safety. My wife and children have been in trauma since yesterday,” he said over the phone.
JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh and vice president Saket Moon are also among those named in the complaint. On Monday, JNUSU denied the allegation and said it was “undemocratic” for the administration “to not invite the student bodies in this crucial meeting.”
Kadam said the students’ body cannot be called for IHA meeting since they weren’t notified. “The sealed envelope with the JNUSU election results is still with me. If the only authentic results hasn’t been used, how can we notify the students’ union? There are many other problems as well.”
