No meetings will be allowed at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) hostel without permission taken five days in advance, say new rules that have sparked protests among students. The rules also set 11 pm as the deadline for students to return to the hostel.
"Students/ residents shall not hold any meeting within the hostel premises unless with the prior permission of the Senior Warden of the Hostel concerned and such permission should normally be obtained at least 5 working days in advance of the meeting," reads the draft of the updated hostel manual released by the prestigious university.
Students cannot hold any religious, cultural or political function -- other than related to student activities - on the hostel premises without written permission of the Dean of Students.
JNU Students' Union president Aishe Ghosh expressed anger on social media and called for "an emergency meeting" with all the hostel presidents on Sunday to discuss "...the ploy of the JNU Administration's to turn our hostels into jails."
The JNU inter-hall administration has allowed students to mail their feedback on the draft rules to the Dean by October 18.
The Dean of students, Umesh Kadam, who is also in charge of JNU's inter-hall administration, told the Hindustan Times that the administration would not implement anything "arbitrarily". "We will go through democratic process. That's why we have asked students to give us suggestions," he said.
The JNU inter-hall administration supervises the 18 hostels of the university spread across the campus.
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