JNU ‘advises’ students in hostels to leave, invites student union ire

“As per the MHA, Govt. of India and Delhi Government guidelines... the University has announced students can return to campus on or after 25 June 2020 and till then all academic activities are closed,” it added.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration on Monday “strongly advised” students still remaining on campus to return to their hometowns, now that train services have resumed.

JNU is a residential campus with a majority of students staying in hostels. Earlier in March, several students had left the campus after they were asked to vacate hostels by the administration and had taken temporary residence in the national capital.

Many such students later expressed a desire to return, saying the stop-gap arrangements they made were no longer feasible.

In a circular on Monday, Dean of Students Sudheer Pratap Singh said, “Many students requested to stay back in hostels” earlier “due to non-availability of public transport during the lockdown”.

“As is widely reported, the Indian Railways has begun to run special trains, and around 200 more trains are going to be started from 1st June 2020. The intra-state bus and taxi services have also been started by the state governments,” the circulated stated.

“As per the MHA, Govt. of India and Delhi Government guidelines… the University has announced students can return to campus on or after 25 June 2020 and till then all academic activities are closed,” it added.

The JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) said the administration was “deliberately putting students’ lives and safety at risk”.

“Since the administration itself acknowledges that the number of Covid-19 cases are increasing in Delhi, is it advisable that students venture out and put their lives at risk?…,” the JNUSU said.

This, the JNUSU said, “not only puts the safety of students at risk, but also demonstrates that the JNU administration has abandoned all sense of responsibility towards its students in a manner that is not only shameful but also criminal”.