V-C skips meeting to break JNU deadlock

Thirteen deans of the university attended the meeting. However, no explanation was offered to the committee for the V-C’s absence, The Indian Express has learnt.

Kumar could not be reached for comment. JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar told The Indian Express that he is out of town and, hence, was unaware of who did and did not meet the committee members.

According to sources, the deans apprised the panel members that the hike in hostel fee was because of a fund deficit of over Rs 12 crore being faced by JNU. They are also learned to have said that the fee hike wasn’t sudden and was even made public on the institute’s website for student feedback.

“There’s a consensus among them (deans) that this issue be resolved quickly,” said a committee member, on condition of anonymity.

The high-powered committee will meet the officers-elect of the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) and hostel presidents Wednesday to hear their side of the story. The JNU administration, till date, has refused to engage the JNUSU-elect to end the standoff over hostel fee.

It has been a week since JNU students took their protest against the hike in hostel fee outside the university campus.

On November 11, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal was trapped inside the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) campus for around three hours after agitating students blocked the main gate.
The main point of protest is the introduction of service charges — for maintenance, mess workers, cook and sanitation — and utility charges (power and water consumption) which were so far not included in the hostel fee.

Rent for a single room has been increased from Rs 20 per month to Rs 600 per month, and for a double-sharing room from Rs 10 per month to Rs 300 per month.

Although the university, after protests last week, reviewed the fee structure, it reserved the bulk of changes for students falling under the ‘below poverty line’ category. Students are demanding a complete rollback.