JNU students protest seat cut in courses outside UGC office

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 24

Opposing the massive seat cut in MPhil and PhD courses, Jawaharlal Nehru University students under its students' union today staged a protest outside the UGC building causing inconvenience to commuters at the busy ITO.

The JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) also backed the students and passed a resolution in their favour at the emergency general meeting yesterday.

Today students raised slogans against the University Grants Commission and demanded roll back of the move to reduce the number of seats. Police had a tough time in removing the blockage.

“We blocked the road as we were not allowed to meet the UGC Chairman. Police manhandled us but no one was detained,” said JNU Students' Union president Mohit Pandey while adding that on March 28 they will hold a bigger protest at the UGC office.

The varsity had released its prospectus on Tuesday effecting seat cuts in the MPhil/PhD programmes across courses.

He said HRD Minister Prakash Javdekar himself has accepted that the seat cut is due to non-recruitment of faculty members so why students are being made to pay for this.

The students submitted a memorandum to a UGC official.

"We demand that JNU should be allowed to uphold its institutional autonomy and prepare a robust defence of its existing MPhil and PhD admission policy along with the Nafey Committee recommendations," the memorandum stated.

"Like the students of the university, the teachers feel anger, desperation, and a sense of profound grief that university atmosphere that has given each of us so much has been so spitefully attacked from within," the JNUTA had said in a statement.

JNU students, police clash during protest

Minor clashes broke out between Delhi Police and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students during a protest outside the UGC building here over the students' demand to meet the UGC Chairperson.

Police barricaded the way towards the University Grants Commission (UGC) office and placed a 'warning' sign to stop the protesting students from storming the office premises.

The clashes occurred when police forced the students to retreat from the barricades.  "We just want to meet the (UGC) Chairman. Police are not even letting us convey this message to him inside... We mean to protest peacefully," said former JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar.

(With agency inputs)