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JNUSU says ready to call off registration boycott, with a condition
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students Union (JNUSU) on Saturday said it was ready to call off the ongoing registration boycott if the administration allowed them to register without paying the hiked hostel fee.
The elected union, which claims the support of a large section of students, has been boycotting the registration process for the present semester since January 1, demanding a complete roll-back of the hiked hostel fee.
On January 5, a mob of masked people armed with rods and sticks attacked the campus, leaving at least 34 persons injured.
The JNU administration, including vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, said students boycotting the registration were behind the violence. The vice-chancellor, in an interaction on Tuesday, said, “A large number of students are willing to register for the winter semester. But the agitating students have not been allowing them to do so.”
JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh said the students’ body had communicated its decision to the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry. “We are ready to request to call off the boycott and request students to come forward and register themselves if the administration allows us to do the same without paying the hiked hostel fee. We will not pay the hiked hostel fee. We demand a complete roll-back. But we are ready to register for the semester and start the classes,” she said.
No immediate response was forthcoming from the JNU administration over the student union’s fresh offer.
Ghosh said it was the students’ union’s “first step” to break the deadlock. “It’s now up to the administration to accept our demands and allow us to register. We demand that the administration should not block the registration of those against whom they have some pending disciplinary inquiry,” she said. The JNUSU members said the administration had blocked the registration of as many as 300 students citing pending inquiries.
JNUSU’s comment came on a day when the administration announced that classes for the winter semester would begin from Monday. “The winter session registration process is going on smoothly and the campus is peaceful. Students who have gone of station are requested to return to the university in time to pursue their studies and research,” JNU assistant registrar Monoj Kumar said in a statement released on Saturday morning.
JNUSU vice-president Saket Moon said that as per the present norms, the students cannot register without paying the hostel fee. “We will not pay the hostel fee till it is completely rolled back. Our fight against the fee hike will continue. But, we can register and start the classes by just paying the registration fee, which is Rs 108 for undergraduate students and Rs 120 for post-graduate and doctorate students,” he said.
The JNU administration had on Friday announced that it would not charge the service and utility charges in the hostel fee for the current winter semester and wrote to the University Grants Commission (UGC) to provide funds for that. The HRD ministry had on Friday also assured the protesting students that their demands on the fee issue would be addressed.
Moon said the hostel fee was still “out of bounds” for many students even after removing the utility and service charges. “With the revised rent, the fee for a double-seater room will be around Rs 5,000 per semester and for single room, it will around Rs 7,000, per semester, excluding the utility and service charges. That’s why we demand complete roll-back,” he said. Earlier, the hostel fee for a double-seater room was Rs 3,060 per semester and it was Rs 3,120 for single room.
