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JNU blinks, halves proposed hostel fee hike, scraps curfew rule
The decision of the Inter Hostel Administration (IHA) which manages 18 JNU hostels to raises charges sparked major objections with the JNU students’ union (JNUSU) had organising several protests on the campus.
Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University on Wednesday announced that it was rolling back a proposed hike in hostel fees and curfew hours 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.
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:
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.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.
2.The one-time refundable mess security fee was more than doubled to ₹12,000 from ₹5,500.
3.On Wednesday, the JNU Executive Committee announced that the single-seater hostel room will now be RS 300 against the proposed hike of ₹600. The double-sharing room rent will be ₹150 instead of ₹300.
4.The proposal to raise refundable mess security to ₹12,000 has been scrapped and will continue to be at the earlier rate of ₹5,500.
5.The JNU executive committee also rolled back the curfew hour regulation that required students to be back at their hostels by 11 pm or face eviction. ”
6.It also scrapped the rule that all residents and guests should come to the dining hall appropriately dressed.
7.The university’s hostel committee had approved a new manual during a meeting on October 28, without consulting representatives of the students’ union.
8.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.
9.The JNUSU had argued that the administration needed 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.
10.The JNU administration appealed to all the students to return to their classes, lab works, and research activities “as major concessions have been given to students belonging to BPL category and removed the clauses related to dress and hostel timings from the hostel manual as per the feedback from the students. Resuming academic work will protect the careers of thousands of students from any further harm.”
