This academic year has been witness
to a severe crisis with regard to accommodation for new students. The crisis is
particularly acute for boys, hundreds of whom have not got hostels so far. The
gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that many students who
topped the entrance exams haven’t got hostels yet. Many OBC students who have
won admission under general category, who ought to be given hostels as per OBC
lists, are instead considered under the general category itself, causing undue
delays in the allotment of hostels to them.
The AISA-led JNUSU also had
acknowledged the severity of this crisis, but had remained utterly
lackadaisical in addressing the issue. The AISA has been leading the union
since 2007, and the process of implementation of OBC reservations along with
the increase in seats in the university had begun in 2008. It was well-known to
the university administration and the AISA that accommodating the increased
intake of students following 54% seat increase would require a big expansion of
hostel facilities. Yet, in her speeches in the various school GBMs, the
incumbent JNUSU President kept stating the lame excuse that a hostel cannot be
built in six months. The administration was clearly successful in mollifying
the AISA-led union by fast-tracking the first batches of hostel allotment. After
having abdicated the responsibility to take cognizance of the issue well in
advance and pushing for the construction of new hostels, the AISA-led union was
satisfied arguing for more dormitories. The dormitories that have been opened
are themselves plagued by a number of problems, including the lack of adequate
work spaces and a shortage of plug points even for basic electronic equipments.
The CAG report on JNU had revealed
that the funds meant for the expansion of infrastructure in tandem with the
proposed seat increase had been diverted for foreign trips, seminars etc. A
large number of single seaters were converted into double seaters as the hostel
crisis loomed large, hoping to pit different sections of the student community
against each other while going back on the obligation to build new hostels. The
AISA-led union was caught sleeping all through this period, and did nothing to
ensure that the funds were utilised for the purposes they were meant for.
Explore alternatives
When the university administration
is reluctant to spend funds to improve the basic infrastructure facilities, the
construction of new hostels would require sustained pressure and struggles by
the students’ movement. It is worth noting here that it was after a massive
struggle led by the SFI-led union in 1999 that the construction of new hostels
from Tapti onwards began. During this struggle, following a 14-day hunger
strike, 63 students were arrested and 14 students including 3 office-bearers of
the JNUSU were illegally detained in Tihar jail for three days. All sections of
the JNU community had risen in unison against the high-handedness of the
administration, which had to back down and accept the demands of the students. The
new union which shall take charge after the JNUSU elections this month, being
heirs to this militant legacy, must ensure that an uncompromising struggle is
waged to ensure the construction of new hostels. Since it will take some time
for new hostels to be built, alternatives must also be explored to address the
accommodation crisis in the immediate. In fact following the 1999 agitation,
the administration was forced to provide temporary accommodation to the
students in Mahanadi hostel and in private accommodation facilities outside the
campus. Renting out private accommodation once again is very much a
feasible option. Moreover, today in our campus there are many new, spacious
staff quarters which are lying vacant. The possibility of accommodating
students who have not got hostels in such places on a temporary basis needs to
be explored on an urgent basis.
Sd/-
Kopal, Siddik
Rabiyath, Samuel Philip Mathew, Garima Sodhi, Viswanathan V
(For the SFI Unit
Organising Committee, JNU)
Our Struggle for More Hostels Long Live!!
Students’ Unity Long Live!!
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