Mahesh Kumar
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) has initiated an indefinite hunger strike at Sabarmati T-point since Sunday (August 11) night. The protest is against the university administration's failure to address students' demands, which have been unresolved for the past four months.
Around sixteen students from the varsity, including key office bearers of the JNUSU—Dhananjay (President), Avijit Ghosh (Vice President), Priyanshi Arya (General Secretary), and Md. Sajid (Joint Secretary), Nigam Kumari (School of Language councillor)—began an indefinite hunger strike to compel the university administration to respond to their charter of demands.
JNUSU issued a statement on Monday explaining that they had submitted a 'Charter of Demands' on April 12. The Charter was created following a campaign called 'Suggest Your Union, Demand from Admin,' during which the union collected and consolidated students' demands.
The JNUSU's charter of demands includes the revocation of the Chief Proctor Office (CPO) manual, the reinstatement of the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH), withdrawal of proctorial inquiries against students who protested issues related to water scarcity, opening of Barak Hostel, a state-of-the-art hostel built for Northeast students on campus, increase in Merit-cum-Means Scholarship to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,000, scrapping of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), reduction in Viva weightage to 10-15% from 30%, swift renovation of hostels among others.
“The JNU administration under the Vice-Chancellor has refused to respond positively to any of the demands. The V-C has refused to meet the JNUSU on multiple occasions in the past four months…,” the student’s body told The Indian Express.
There are speculations that the university is facing a fund shortage. According to the Indian Express, a source from the university administration, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “The system in JNU is running democratically, but there is a fund shortage. Whenever funds are received, these are disbursed through proper channels. The source added that “nobody is sitting on any kind of funds”.
Around sixteen students from the varsity, including key office bearers of the JNUSU—Dhananjay (President), Avijit Ghosh (Vice President), Priyanshi Arya (General Secretary), and Md. Sajid (Joint Secretary), Nigam Kumari (School of Language councillor)—began an indefinite hunger strike to compel the university administration to respond to their charter of demands.
JNUSU issued a statement on Monday explaining that they had submitted a 'Charter of Demands' on April 12. The Charter was created following a campaign called 'Suggest Your Union, Demand from Admin,' during which the union collected and consolidated students' demands.
The JNUSU's charter of demands includes the revocation of the Chief Proctor Office (CPO) manual, the reinstatement of the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH), withdrawal of proctorial inquiries against students who protested issues related to water scarcity, opening of Barak Hostel, a state-of-the-art hostel built for Northeast students on campus, increase in Merit-cum-Means Scholarship to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,000, scrapping of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), reduction in Viva weightage to 10-15% from 30%, swift renovation of hostels among others.
“The JNU administration under the Vice-Chancellor has refused to respond positively to any of the demands. The V-C has refused to meet the JNUSU on multiple occasions in the past four months…,” the student’s body told The Indian Express.
There are speculations that the university is facing a fund shortage. According to the Indian Express, a source from the university administration, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “The system in JNU is running democratically, but there is a fund shortage. Whenever funds are received, these are disbursed through proper channels. The source added that “nobody is sitting on any kind of funds”.
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