Partial roll back in JNU hostel fee after protest, but students unhappy

The Executive Council meeting of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Wednesday (November 13) decided to partially roll back the hike in hostel fees. As per the revised decision, the room rent for single occupancy will be ₹200 while for double, it will be ₹100. The caution deposit will be ₹5,500. The service charges will continue to be fined at ₹1,700.

The decision was announced by education secretary R Subrahmanyam on Twitter. He added that an additional scheme is being rolled out to help the students from the economically weaker sections (EWS).

Also read | JNU administration skips crucial meet, changes venue 18 kms from varsity

“JNU Executive Committee announces major roll-back in the hostel fee and other stipulations. Also proposes a scheme for economic assistance to the EWS students. Time to get back to classes,” he said on Twitter. The Executive Council is the highest decision-making body of the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

#JNU Executive Committee announces major roll-back in the hostel fee and other stipulations. Also proposes a scheme for economic assistance to the EWS students. Time to get back to classes. @HRDMinistry

— R. Subrahmanyam (@subrahyd) November 13, 2019

Reacting to the development, Surajit Mazumdar, JNUTA Secretary, said, “JNUTA will react when it has clear information. If the reports are to be believed, there is no roll-back but only cosmetic changes have been made. We have in any case said that this is not a legitimate Executive Council meeting and only a proper meeting which considers the issue after due deliberations and discussions with student representatives can take decisions in this regard.”

Also read | JNU students will continue to fight and resist, says Prakash Karat

Earlier, the fee was hiked from ₹20 per month to ₹600 per month for single, and ₹10 per month to ₹300 per month for double sharing hostel residence. Further, a fee of ₹1,700 would also have been charged. The JNU students’ union (JNUSU) protested against the same on Monday.

“The announcement only shows some cosmetic changes. There is no major roll-back,” says Professor Ranjani Mazumdar, from the School of Arts & Aesthetics.

Earlier in the day, the varsity administration skipped a crucial meeting on the issue. To make the issue worse, the representatives received a mail at 12:40 pm that the meeting was scheduled 18 kms away from the University, at 12:30 pm.

Also read | JNU protest intensifies; HRD minister meets students’ union president

The JNU Executive Council, which has representatives from the university’s students’ association (JNUSU), teachers’ association (JNUTA) and the administration was to discuss the issue after Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, had assured the students on Monday that their demands will be addressed.

In a statement on Wednesday, the JNUTA said, “We condemn in the strongest terms the mockery that the JNU administration made of institutional processes today by reducing the meeting of the Executive Council into a farce utterly lacking in any legitimacy.

“At the call of the JNUTA, several teachers had assembled outside the convention centre, the scheduled venue of the meeting, to appeal to the members of the Executive Council to support the demands of the teachers and students in the meeting. The demands raised by the JNUTA included the withdrawal of the steep hike in hostel charges as well as other issues of teachers like delays and denials in promotion,” the statement said.

Also read | JNU seethes in protest over hostel fee hike, CRPF in campus

Meanwhile, the JNUSU said it will continue its struggle till the time the hostel manual is not discussed with them.

“The JNU community has received no communication whatsoever regarding this. The said EC meeting has happened without any communication or consultation. If it has passed the IHA Manual without consultation, which includes curfew timings, permission for adult students for going out for a day and regressive notions on dress code we reject it,” the JNUSU said in a statement.

On the issue of the fee hike, there are unconfirmed reports that the so-called major rollback has happened only for room rent, they said. “Our issue substantively is not just with the room rent but the ₹1700 service charge, water and electricity charge which was zero and has been steeply hiked,” they said.

Also read | Authorities want JNUSU to vacate office, students refuse to budge

“The HRD secretary while announcing the so-called roll back has the arrogance to advice us to ‘go back to classes’. With the fee hike still in place students will be going out of classes and out of JNU. “We reject this sham propaganda and selective usage of facts,” they said.

The HRD Secretary tweet on "Major Roll Back' of fee hike is misleading!

In order to save their face and create a false narrative, JNU admin in collusion with Modi Government is fooling students and people of this country!

Here is a point to point reply!#JNUFeeHikeRemains!

— N Sai Balaji (@nsaibalaji) November 13, 2019

Former JNUSU president N Sai Balaji termed the HRD secretary’s tweet as “misleading”. “The HRD Secretary tweet on ‘major rollback’ of fee hike is misleading! In order to save their face and create a false narrative, JNU admin in collusion with Modi government is fooling students and people of this country #JNUFeeHikeRemains! (sic)” Balaji tweeted.

(With inputs from agencies)