JNU students continue protest against new hostel manual

New Delhi: The drama at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) doesn't seem to end, as thousands of students on Thursday continued to protest against the new hostel manual, calling it "anti-activity".

In a Press statement, explaining the hike in hostel fees, the university Registrar said that room rent for a single seater has been increased from Rs 20 to Rs 600; for double seater, the fee has gone up from Rs 10 to Rs 300 per month. "The new hostel manual has been rejected by the students, we will keep protesting until our demands are met," said a student who was part of the protest.

Meanwhile, JNU Students' Union claimed that the provosts have stood with the students in the hike, however, the JNU Admin claims that three provosts were forced to resign. It also alleged that two other provosts were "blackmailed" into signing the pre-draft rejecting the new hostel manual.

"The entire JNU community is informed not to believe the social media postings of papers carrying signatures of provosts on papers declaring rejection of hostel manual or resigning from their office," said the statement from the registrar's office. Both sides have claimed that numerous attempts have been made to clear the issue, but to no accord.

In another drama, Dean of students have alleged that members of JNUSU had held him hostage during a protest. "My family is also being targetted on social media. They have also outraged the modesty of my wife for which we have filed a complaint with NCW," said Umesh Kadam, Dean of students. The students, on the other hand, say they were asking him to reject the new manual. The incident took place a week back during the protest, for which the accused students have been given a notice.