Dorm it all, where are the SPIC MACAY participants staying? JNU or IIT Delhi?

On June 3, the Jawaharlal Nehru University will host SPIC MACAY's Seventh International Convention. But even two days before the event's commencement, it looks like there is miscommunication between the event organisers and the university administration - about the participants' accommodation.

A few days ago, the residents of JNU's hostels had alleged harassment and forced eviction by the administration, in order to accommodate the SPIC MACAY participants. Now, the SPIC MACAY authorities tell us that the issue has been resolved and that some participants will now be accommodated in the hostels of IIT Delhi instead. But surprisingly, the JNU administration seems to be unaware of this. A few students were reportedly forcefully evicted from their dormitories even as recently as Saturday morning. They were also told that the event participants will be staying in JNU.

"My dormmate who had to stay back in the university for some work was asked to leave immediately. She had left the hostel this morning," says a resident of the university's Narmada hostel. A first priority category student, she also contacted her hostel caretaker to find out if the issue had been resolved, but the reply was rather disappointing. "I was told that there is no change in the decision and that none of us must come to the university from June 1 to 11. I had to go there to get some work done on June 5," she adds. She was also told that all the hostel dormitories are now double locked by the administration.

At the same time, this is what the SPIC MACAY authorities had to say. "The issue between the JNU administration and the JNUSU is now resolved," says Varun Upadhyay, a SPIC MACAY volunteer who met the university administration. "Only a few participants will now be staying in the JNU dormitories. Our founder Dr Kiran Seth has made arrangements to accommodate the rest of the participants in the IIT Delhi hostels," he says. 

The JNUSU also expressed its displeasure over the happenings. "We are not against SPIC MACAY. But the event mustn't be organised in a way that it creates inconvenience to the students," says N Sai Balaji, President, JNUSU.