The HRD ministry on Friday met with a five-member team from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration, including Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar. The emergency meeting has been called to discuss the situation on the campus and resolve the standoff between students and the administration.

JNU’s registrar and three rectors from the university are also part of the panel.
“We will talk to the university administration that the fees changes which were decided last month are implemented. We are working on resolving the issues and restoring normalcy. It is a prestigious university and should remain that way,” Amit Khare, the HRD Secretary, was quoted as saying by PTI.

“We have also written to UGC to release funds for covering the utility and service charges as decided,” he further said.

The students have been protesting for more than two months over the steep hike proposed in the hostel fees.

A hostel draft manual, introduced by the varsity, has become a bone of contention between students and varsity administration since October 28, 2019, when the administration didn’t allow the JNUSU to attend the IHA committee meeting that was to clear it.

The draft hostel manual proposed to hike hostel charges from Rs 10 for double occupancy to Rs 300, and Rs 600 for single occupancy from the earlier Rs 20.

Recently, with anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens(NRC) protests going on for more than three weeks in Delhi and at many places in India, JNU too is part of these protests.

Earlier, yesterday after JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh gave a call to march towards the Rashtrapati Bhawan, a scuffle broke out between the pretesting students and Delhi Police on Thursday. The police detained the protesting students and dragged them in buses near Ambedkar Bhawan in order to stop them from marching to the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The march came after the students gathered at Mandi House and then went to HRD Ministry office in protest against the January 5 attack on students inside the Periyar Hostel in the JNU campus.

After meeting the HRD ministry officials, JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh termed the meeting ‘unsatisfactory’ and gave the call for a march.
“We’re in no position to compromise with HRD ministry. It’s still thinking whether VC should be removed,” she said.

The JNUSU president and other students demanded the removal of JNU Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar, following his inaction on the January 5 incident.

Former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was also present at the protest and urged the students to march in protest against the attack.
However, the VC told that a five-member committee has been formed to probe the Sunday violence and recommend measures to ensure safety of students.

“We have formed a five-member panel which will work in association with our internal security committee. The panel will also look into lapses, if any and recommend measures to ensure safety of students on campus,” he said.

Unprecedented violence was unleashed on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus by a mob of masked men and women on Sunday night, who went on a rampage attacking students and teachers with wooden and metal rods, injuring at least 34 people.

Eyewitnesses have said 50-odd goons entered the campus around 6.30 pm on Sunday.

The JNU students’ union has claimed that the attackers were “unknown ABVP goons”, who were even beating up professors trying to protect students.

However, the RSS-affiliated outfit has denied the charges.

The alleged revelation by the Hindu Raksha Dal chief comes at a time when the Delhi Police has said that it has identified a few of the miscreants who targeted students and teachers in the campus. An FIR was also filed. However, no arrests have been made yet.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has booked JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh and 19 others for allegedly destroying the varsity’s property.