Long-standing demands likely to be fulfilled: JNUSU members

Members of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Monday said that several of their long-standing demands are likely to be fulfilled soon. The remarks were made after they held a meeting with the university administration on Friday.
The students were staging a hunger strike, which started on August 11, on the university campus to press for several demands, including increase of scholarship amounts, reinstating the JNU entrance exam, conducting a caste census, reinstating the gender sensitization committee against sexual harassment (GSCASH), withdrawal of proctorial inquiries into students who had taken part in protests.
A JNU official said that most of the demands raised by the students will be resolved.
“JNU Rector I, Brijesh Pandey; Rector III, Dipendra Nath Das; the dean of students, Manuradha Chaudhary and all the assistant dean of students met with the JNUSU and discussed the issues raised by it. Professor Pandey assured them that the administration is sensitive to their demands and is committed to ensure the welfare of JNU students,” the official added.
JNU Rector I, Brijesh Pandey, said, “We have already written to the ministry of education and the UGC (University Grants Commission) to give us more funds, so that we can increase the scholarship amounts.”
He added, “The administration will accept demands of students which are in their best interest. Whatever is beyond our authority cannot be fulfilled.”
According to a statement released by JNUSU on Monday, which marked the 15th day of the hunger strike, the JNU administration has agreed to increase the merit-cum-means (MCM) scholarship from ₹2,000 to ₹5,000 in principle.
The statement added, “However, they (JNU administration) have stated that they cannot increase the amounts right now due to an acute lack of funds. They have communicated that if the ministry of education releases extra funds, they will increase the MCM amounts and extend the provision to students of the School of Education and Management Studies.”
The JNUSU statement also said that while no assurances have been received regarding the GSCASH, they have been verbally assured that the JNU entrance exam will be reinstated from the next academic year.
The statement added, “Conducting a caste census was another prominent agenda in this charter of demands. The administration has verbally assured us that they will publish the category­-wise data of JNU students, faculty and staff within the next 15 days.”
According to JNUSU, the university has also agreed to consider the recommendations of the Nafey Committee in the upcoming academic council meeting, whereby the reduction of weightage of viva marks to 10-15% will be considered.
Several other issues, including JNUSU representation in academic council meetings, will be discussed on Tuesday in presence of JNU VC Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit.
JNUSU had also raised an issue regarding the conduction of the Student Faculty Committee (SFC) elections and the opening of the Parthasarathy Rocks (PSR) gate, which according to the student organisation, was closed since 2020.
On August 23, following the discussion between JNUSU office bearers and the university administration, two circulars were released by the varsity.
Regarding the PSR gate, the university shared through their notice, “It is to inform all stakeholders of JNU that PSR Gate is being opened for visits from 6am to 10pm daily. All the visitors are required to show their identity cards issued by JNU to security guard present there.”
Further, the university wrote to all deans of schools to conduct timely SFC elections. The notification, as released by JNU on Friday, said, “It has been brought into the notice that some Schools/Centres are not holding SFC elections. Therefore, it is requested to all Schools/Centres to conduct the SFC elections as per the schedule notified in the academic calendar.”
A JNU official said, “The opening of the PSR gate, SFC elections, request for more funds in order to increase scholarships and caste and gender sensitisation across campus are some of the demands that the JNU administration has agreed to. However, there has been no official confirmation regarding the JNU entrance exam and caste census.”
“In fact, the data regarding the categories in which students have been admitted is already available on the university website. Since caste data is already available, that is not an issue,” the official added.