The students of Jawaharlal Nehru University are marching towards Parliament to protest against the hostel fee hike and to “save public education and appeal to MPs to take up the cause”. Students are protesting against the increase in hostel fee, even though JNU has announced a rollback.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union (JNUSU) has said it will be a march to save public education and appeal to MPs to take up the cause. Around 1,200 personnel have been deployed around the JNU campus, sources have said. Here are the LIVE updates from protest march of JNU students:
12:01 pm: Police stop Jawaharlal Nehru University students at Ber Sarai road. They have not been allowed to march towards the Parliament.
The Delhi Police have stopped the protest march by JNU students at Ber Sarai road, they have not been allowed to march towards the Parliament. The students are demanding a complete rollback of fee, along with other demands.
12.09 pm: HRD Ministry appoints committee to recommend ways to restore normal functioning of JNU
The HRD Ministry on Monday appointed a three-member committee to recommend ways to restore normal functioning of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), officials said.
The HRD Ministry’s committee on JNU will initiate dialogues with students and administration as well as submit recommendations on resolution of all issues, they said.
The varsity’s students have been protesting for nearly three weeks against the draft hostel manual, which has provisions for hostel fee hike, dress code and curfew timings.
12.05 pm: Students break barricades, continue march towards Parliament.
ANI
✔@ANIDelhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students march towards Parliament over their demand of complete fee roll back along with other demands
11.53 am: March towards Parliament begins.
11.44 am: Amid imposition of Section 144 outisde the JNU campus, the students have started to assemble inside the campus. They are expected to start their protest marech towards the Parliament by noon.
11.09 am: Section 144 imposed outside JNU campus
10.30 am: No permission for protest march: Police
The Delhi Police has said JNU students have not been given permission to carry out the protest march. The police officials have said taking out the protest march without permission will be a crime.
ANI
✔@ANDelhi: Security deployed outside Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU); Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union to march to Parliament today demanding complete roll back of fee hike
A section of JNU teachers on Sunday said the JNU administration was open to dialogue with elected hostel representatives but not with the “non-notified” students’ union to end the standoff by students over the hike in hostel fees.
Umesh Kadam, the dean of students, said he has not yet notified the students’ union. “The (poll) results are still lying with me in my office in a sealed envelope. The election committee announced the results without taking that sealed envelope from me. How can we notify the students’ union when the results are still with me,” he said.
“The administration has announced a partial rollback and we are open to dialogue. We are ready to talk to the elected hostel representatives and work out the modalities,” he said.
9.08 am: Ahead of protest march to Parliament, the Delhi Police has increased security arrangements around the university campus. Paramilitary force has also been deployed to maintain law and order.
9.05 am: Return to classes, JNU V-C tells protesting students
JNU Vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar on Sunday urged the protesting students on Sunday to return to their classes as exams are near. In a video message released on the varsity’s website, he said he has been getting e-mails from worried parents and students about the situation in the university which is affecting academic activities.
“If we still continue with the strike and cause academic loss, it is going to affect future of thousands of students.
“From tomorrow, a new week will begin and I request the students to come back to the classes and resume your research activities. From December 12, the semester exams will start and if you do not attend classes, it will affect your future goals,” Kumar said.
On Sunday, a section of teachers also held a press conference and claimed that a handful of students have terrorised other pupils and are not allowing them to attend classes.
Why are students protesting?
The students of JNU are protesting inside the administration block of the university against the increase in hostel fee. The students were demanding withdrawal of service charges of Rs 1,700 which were introduced from next session and the one-time mess security fee, which is refundable, has been hiked from Rs 5,500 to Rs 12,000.
On November 13, students painted various messages for the vice chancellor inside the administration block as they barged inside the building to talk to him about the hostel fee hike.
Facing an intense agitation for over two weeks, the JNU administration partially rolled back the hostel fee hike for BPL (below poverty line) students not availing any scholarship on November 13, a move that failed to satisfy the protesting students, who dubbed it as an “eyewash” and decided to continue with the strike
Objectionable messages, mostly directed towards right-wing outfits, were found written on the pedestal of a yet-to-be-unveiled statue of Swami Vivekananda at the campus on November 14.
Prasanta Patnaik