JNUSU holds referendum on mandatory attendance

New Delhi: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) here on Wednesday held a referendum over the mandatory attendance issue, to show the university administration how opposed students are to the rule.

According to JNUSU member, around 3,500 students had cast their votes till late evening.

The university has seen a number of protests by JNUSU since January, especially since the administration stipulated a minimum attendance criterion, which makes 75 per cent attendance mandatory for all students.

The referendum, which was conducted in two phases in the campus, began at 9 am and was supposed to continue till 8 pm.

However, a source revealed that the time will be extended, with students coming to cast votes till as late as 11 pm. The result would be announced on Thursday morning.

The decision to hold the democratic exercise was taken by JNUSU, after the administration's labelling of the past agitations "a handiwork of few students, which did not have the support of the majority."

JNUSU, in a statement, said, "JNU stands for its own time-tested methods of classroom participation and accountability, including continuous evaluation of classroom performance, presentations, assignments, tests, and tutorials, which have achieved widely recognised excellence for JNU – and rejects the Administration's mindless imposition of forcing students to sign compulsory attendance sheets."

In the referendum, students voted whether they agree with this statement or not.

JNUSU president Geeta Kumari said that a group of research scholars are also conducting a survey on compulsory attendance policy.