JNU students who haven’t registered can do so at old fee

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Friday allowed students of Jawaharlal Nehru University who are yet to register for the ongoing winter semester to register as per the old hostel manual within a week. It also sought the varsity administration’s response to a plea of JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) challenging the decision to amend the hostel manual.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher directed that no late fee should be imposed on such students for late registration.The court said that for room allocation, the reserved category students shall be dealt with as per the old hostel manual — one that existed before October 28, 2019.
Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal, who appeared for the petitioners, argued that the administration took the decision without consulting any student, hence defeating the objective of the hostel manual including the views of all stakeholders whenever its provisions are changed.
The petitioners objected to the introduction of Below Poverty Line (BPL)/Economic Weaker Section (EWS) categories in the hostel manual, calling it irrational and arbitrary. They stated that there was no explanation about how such categories were to be made applicable or even identified when a “merit-cum-means scholarships” category already existed in the university.
They argued that the decision was contradictory to the March 2019 high court order acknowledging the importance of student representation in welfare committees.
Additional solicitor general Pinky Anand opposed the plea and submitted that 90% students had already registered as per the new hostel manual. To this, the court responded, “When you don’t have a choice, what do you do?”
The court then asked the university administration to engage in dialogue with the student representatives.
It also said the “government cannot get out of education” because the salaries of the institution’s contractual workers had to be paid. “The government has to fund public education. The responsibility of paying salaries (of contractual workers) cannot be on students. Someone has to find the funds,” the HC remarked.
Anand submitted that the new manual was introduced as per communications from the UGC and the ministry for human resource development.
The petition slammed the Inter Hostel Administration’s move to amend the hostel manual and allow the fee hike while urging the court to restrain the JNU administration from imposing a late fee on students registering for the winter semester.
The petition, filed by JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh and other office-bearers, challenged the minutes of the IHA meeting and jurisdiction of the high-level committee that made the fee hike recommendations. The petition wanted the court to quash the amendments, saying the “minutes of the IHA meeting also stated that mess services, sanitation services, room charges, amongst others category of charges will be increased by 10% every academic year, i.e., from the monsoon semester”.
“Amendments to the hostel manual include an increase in hostel fee, and this affect the rights of those in reserved categories vis-a-vis allocation of hostel rooms and also reduces the representation of JNUSU in the IHA amongst several other changes,” the petition said.
The room rent for students, including those in the BPL category with junior research fellowship, senior research fellowship and other equivalent scholarships or fellowships, for single and double-seater rooms has been hiked to Rs 600 and Rs 300 per month, respectively. That for BPL students for double and single-seater rooms has been increased to Rs 150 and Rs 300 per month, the plea informs the court. Earlier there was no utility and service charge but now the university will charge BPL students Rs 500 and other students Rs 1,000 for the same.