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This is an archive article published on May 6, 2022
Former JNUSU President declared out of bounds from campus due to alleged trade union activities
Friday marked day three of the workers’ strike at JNU who have alleged that they have been denied duty for demanding the release of pending salary of three months.
Sucheta De Former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) President Sucheta De was declared “out of bounds” of the university campus by the administration for “undesirable activities”. De, a union leader, alleged she had been penalised for mobilising sanitation and mess workers of JNU who have allegedly been denied duty for demanding pending salaries for the last three months.
In an office order dated May 5, Chief Proctor Rajnish Kumar Mishra, wrote, “In view of the undesirable activities of the Ms Sucheta De, an ex-student of the School of Social Sciences of the University, the Vice-Chancellor in exercise of her powers vested in her under Statute 32 of the Statutes of the University, has ordered that the entire JNU campus is declared out of bounds with immediate effect.”
He also said, “anyone giving shelter to Ms Sucheta De in any premises of the University will invite strict disciplinary action against him/her”.
Friday marked day three of the workers’ strike at JNU who have alleged that they have been denied duty for demanding the release of pending salary of three months. According to workers, the JNU administration has also threatened a reduction in the workforce which would mean the same work would have to be done by fewer workers.
De was the JNUSU President in 2012 from the All India Students’ Association (AISA). She is currently the National Vice-President of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU). Both AISA and AICCTU are affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation.
“Yesterday evening when I went to the campus, I was physically stopped at the gate and I was told that there was an order prohibiting my entry into the campus. The order says I’m being stopped for ‘undesirable activities’. I‘m a union leader, if there is an agitation by workers inside JNU whose union is affiliated to AICCTU, how can I be stopped? I’m a free citizen of this country, the administration has no right to stop me from going anywhere. They did not allow me to enter even with an I-card holding student,” said De.
“Secondly, what are the charges against me for taking such a decision? The university should clarify what they mean by undesirable activities. They are the ones who are not paying the workers, which is more than undesirable. It is criminal,” she said.
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CPI-ML (Liberation) Politburo member Kavita Krishnan tweeted on the incident saying, “It’s a shame that JNU a) doesn’t pay its workers wages for months on end, and when they protest, b) declares a former student, now trade union organiser @sucheta_ml “out of bounds” because she helped workers’ voices of protest be heard!”
Chief Proctor Rajnish Kumar Mishra and Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit did not respond to calls and texts by The Indian Express.
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