JNUSU Demands Phased Return Of Senior Students To Campus

JNUSU Demands Phased Return Of Senior Students To Campus

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) on Friday gave a protest call to press its demand for the phased return of senior students to the campus. The student's body also claimed that there was heavy deployment of the CRPF and police at the campus gate. A senior police officer said the JNUSU has been demanding the opening of the campus for senior students, especially those pursuing PhD and MPhil so that they can complete their academic work.

Earlier, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and urged him to facilitate a phased return of students who are "not being allowed" to come back to the varsity. The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) had advised students to return to their homes in March after the commencement of the lockdown and closure of all universities.

"However, the manner in which it was executed by the JNU administration was not the best. JNU is a residential campus and anyway accommodates teachers, staff and administrative officials. But the university hurriedly sent people home irrespective of whether they wanted to go or not. Since then, it has been a tale of woe for the students," the JNUSU said.

It said that with the closure of the university, research scholars across disciplines are "unfairly curbed of uninterrupted internet facility, access to libraries, archives, laboratories and needless to say, the fieldwork amidst the ongoing pandemic".

It consequently translates to the jeopardising of research work, if left administratively unattended, the letter added. "Keeping in mind the plight of final year students who are to submit their thesis on or before December 31 as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines, it is of utmost importance to let the final year students come back into the campus on priority basis to facilitate the resumption of their research work," the JNUSU said.