JNU students reject mandatory attendance criteria

New Delhi: An overwhelming number of JNU students in a referendum have rejected the order of the varsity authorities on mandatory attendance, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) said on Thursday.

The referendum was conducted on Wednesday, wherein 98.47 per cent of the 4,429 students voted against the attendance order of January that stipulated a minimum 75 per cent attendance for students, the students body said. A total of 27 votes were rendered "invalid".

The exercise was conducted to show the number of students who did not want implementation of the order, since the varsity administration had termed the protests over the issue a "handiwork of a section of JNU students". "The vote for 'yes' is a vote for JNU, its excellence and its time-tested norm of accountability," a union statement said.