E-Paper
JNU seeks Rs 450 crore from HRD ministry to build new hostels
New Delhi
New Delhi
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which has been witnessing longstanding protests over fee-hike, is planning to set up new hostels to accommodate students from the newly created management and engineering department and has approached the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry seeking funds.
The university has recently submitted a detailed plan, seeking a Rs 450-crore loan for setting up hostel complexes and some other important infrastructure projects, said a senior government official.
“The university has written to the HRD ministry seeking a Rs 450 crore loan for several key projects, including setting up new hostels,” said the senior official who wished not to be named.
According to details accessed by the HT, the university plans to set up two hostels complexes, one for the students of JNU’s School of Engineering and another for the Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship.
The two hostel complexes, according to varsity estimates, could cost over Rs 150 crore.
The JNU, in which over 8,000 students study, already has 18 Hostels for boys and girls and one complex accommodating married students.
In addition, the university has also sought these funds for a number of other projects including a building for the Vajpayee school of management and entrepreneurship.
JNU was over the years known as a university which excelled in social sciences and it has been in recent years that the varsity has started teaching management and engineering.
Among other projects for which the varsity has sought a loan are a building for its Trans-Disciplinary Academic and Research wing and an advanced Animal Research Building. The university has also planned a lecture hall complex among other projects.
“The HRD ministry had a couple of years back set up a Higher Education Funding Agency for providing loans to institutions to meet their infrastructure loans. The university has applied for a loan under HEFA. However, it will have to go through a detailed scrutiny process only after which funds are allotted,” said another official.
Significantly, it was a hike in the hostel fees, which led to a prolonged agitation in the varsity which later snowballed into violence on the campus and led to a massive political slugfest.
JNU vice-chancellor did not respond to repeated calls and texts.
