JNU students demand withdrawal of hostel and mess charges

new delhi: Students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Thursday demanded the withdrawal of order seeking payment of hostel fees and maintenance charges, and clearing of all previous mess bills before registering for the next semester.

Students said that the demand is "unjustified" as the campus has been shut since March and the upcoming semester will most likely be held online.

The JNU administration had announced the online registration for the monsoon semester, in a circular dated August 14. "Students are required to pay all relevant dues such as tuition fees, hostel fees and mess dues etc," the circular read.

The presidents of the hostel committees at JNU wrote to the Dean of Students on Wednesday demanding them to waive off hostel and other charges. "Most of the students left the campus in March after an administrative circular advised them to do so. While they have neither availed mess nor hostel facilities since, they are being arbitrarily and unjustly charged for the same. Similarly, if students have not used hostel facilities such as their room, utensils or crockery, the charges are not logical at this juncture," the letter read.

Meanwhile, the ABVP wing of the university raised the issue of JNU students are not receiving their fellowships (Non NET /JRF /MCM) for several months due to Covid-19. "The JNU administration has come out with an elaborate circular ordering to compulsorily clear hostel and mess dues before registering for the upcoming semester," it said.

ABVP-JNU had earlier submitted memorandum of demands after wide consultations with the students. Shivam Chaurasia, President ABVP-JNU said: "The simple logic is why should the students pay hostel fees when the university is shut due to lockdown and the students are at home? Moreover fellowships of students have not been reimbursed since six months. From where will the students pay these dues?"

JNUSU has been raising the issue of fellowship for the past two months averring that the majority of the students have not got their scholarship. Meanwhile, it has also written to the administration requesting them to open the university in a phased wide manner. "The University authorities are hence requested by the representative body of students to urgently approve and act upon initiating a phased return of students- starting on a priority basis with those stuck in Delhi NCR and otherwise bona-fide residents and students, and terminal year research scholars," it said in a statement.