New Delhi: In a surprise move, the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration has asked the institution’s newly elected student’s union to vacate its office – a direction which the JNUSU has refused to comply with, citing that it has been legally elected.
Dean of Students Umesh Kadam, had sent a notice to the union on Tuesday, reported PTI.
In the letter, the university cited the fact that JNUSU was not notified last year due to alleged non-compliance with the Lyngdoh Committee Report and that the matter is sub-judice.
“The newly-elected union is yet to be notified,” he said in the notice.
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“To prevent misuse of property, it is decided by the Competent Authority of the University that the said room shall be locked immediately and the same may be handed over to the JNUSU after notification of the same,” the notice, which directs them to vacate the office by 5 pm on Wednesday, reads.
Union position holders have refused to vacate premises. “Around 5 pm, the guards had come but we had gathered in large numbers and they could not do anything. We will not give away this office,” said vice-president Saket Moon.
The students’ union has said “the JNUSU belongs to 8,500 students and the administration is not in any authority to close down our spaces”.
“The JNU Administration has yet again decided to return to its usual tricks and descended to the lowest levels any administration has in perhaps the history of JNU or any other University for that matter,” JNUSU was further quoted by NDTV as having said in response.
“The office in Teflas is not a personal property of the DoS and is our symbol of the community’s right to representation. We appeal to the student community to join hands and resist this diktat of the JNU administration to close down our spaces,” they said.
Kadam has not reacted yet.
Notably, when the Delhi high court had permitted the JNU election committee to declare the results of the students union polls, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva had also allowed the varsity administration to notify the poll results “in accordance with Lyngdoh committee recommendations.”
(With PTI inputs)