New Delhi: JNU Vice Chancellor Santishree D Pandit advised students not to compromise studies for politics amid a row over the varsity imposing a series of stringent measures against staging dharnas within its campus.
Pandit said disciplinary action can adversely impact students’ future prospects for securing jobs.
‘Nobody’s saying don’t do protests but at the same time your academics should not be compromised. Many of these students who engage in politics later come to me seeking extensions which will reflect in their profile when they go for a job,’ she told news agency in an interview. The vice chancellor cited the open debates and lectures on the Israel-Hamas conflict in JNU stressing that no agitation has taken place over it as an example of which showed the culture of critical thinking on campus.
Pandit, who assumed charge as the vice chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2022, said she withdrew all proctorial inquiries against students in the 2019 fee hike protest considering its impact on their careers.
The vice chancellor said the students should express their freedoms with responsibility. The administration has officially notified the chief proctor office (CPO) manual penalising certain actions on campus such as obstructing officials from performing their duty, drinking alcohol or overspeeding on campus to deter them from violating rules, she said.
The JNU last year in November released its revised CPO manual under which a fine of up to Rs 20,000 can be imposed for protesting in prohibited areas on campus and Rs 10,000 for raising anti-national slogans.
The vice chancellor said the university administration has not increased fines but it has only officially notified the Chief Proctor Office (CPO) manual, making it legally sound based on the recommendations of the high court to deter any rule violation on campus.