Jawaharlal Nehru University officials meet students, discuss issues

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) officials held a meeting with students and discussed various issues, including compulsory attendance, admission and complaints of sexual harassment -- over which both have been at loggerheads for the past few months.

University Registrar Pramod Kumar issued a statement on Tuesday, a day after the meeting was held and during which all queries of the students were clarified by the officials. "The attendance rule of the university is mandatory as per the UGC notification, guidelines and the statutory provisions of JNU statute," the statement read. JNU had made 75 percent attendance mandatory for all registered students to sit for the examination in December, last year. The move triggered a spate of protests by the students and the teachers on the campus.

Secondly, explaining the implementation of the reservation policy in admissions and recruitment, the university said the policy as per mandated by the Constitution was followed in both the cases. "Regarding the number of vacant seats in different categories, which could not be filled during previous year, it was clarified that several schools/centers did not provide complete information on the number of vacancies available despite repeated reminders from the administration which resulted in the limited number of admissions in those centers/schools," the statement said.

The JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) and JNU Students Association (JNUSU) had recently raised concerns over the number of reserved seats lying vacant in several schools and centres on the campus.

Lastly, the administration assured the students of "zero tolerance" for any form of sexual harassment at its campus and urged them to refer any such complaint with the newly formed Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the university. The university has been jolted with protests after several cases of sexual harassment were reported against female students by faculty members. A group of eight students from School of Life Sciences (SLS) had also filed a police complaint against a professor following which he was arrested.

VACANT SEATS

The JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) and JNU Students Association (JNUSU) had recently raised concerns over the number of reserved seats lying vacant in several schools and centres on the campus.