JNUSU petitions Lok Sabha seeking to restore reservation

New Delhi: Flagging alleged "tampering" of reservation policy in admissions by the JNU administration, the university Students' Union on Wednesday petitioned Lok Sabha seeking its intervention to restore the benefits awarded to students belonging to backward classes.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) submitted its request to Lok Sabha's Committee on Petitions through Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP Jitendra Choudhury.

Confirming the development, Choudhury said the petition was submitted on Wednesday to the committee and that it would look into the issue. Choudhury is a member of the committee.

"Similarly, around 30 MPs of CPI(M), CPI, Congress, NCP and RJD among others will be writing to Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javdekar seeking his intervention," the CPI(M) MP said.

In the petition, the JNUSU said, "Clauses in the Admission Policy and Procedure 2018-19 (Annexure 1) has made written examination a qualifying paper and Viva is the sole criteria for selection."

"A committee constituted by the varsity in 2016 to study discrimination in the admission process recommended reduction of Viva marks from 30 to 15 to mitigate the discrimination pattern.

"This shows that the varsity has violated fundamental rights, Central Education Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act 2006 and SC/ST Atrocities Act 1989," the petition said, urging the committee to intervene and restore the policy.

A release from SC, ST, OBC, PwD (persons with disablity) students and teachers of JNU stated, "In the MPhil/PhD admissions for 2017-18, the reservation for SC was 1.3 per cent rather than the mandated 15 percent; for ST, it was 0.6 per cent, rather than 7.5 per cent; for OBC, it was 8.2 per cent rather than 27 per cent and for PwD, it was 0.3 per cent, rather than the mandated three per cent."

"Earlier it was 70 marks for written test, 30 marks for viva. Combined marks of both would be considered for selection, besides properly fulfilling the reservation norms," JNUSU president Geeta Kumari stated on Wednesday, alleging "tampering" of the reservation policy by the university administration.