JNU students on vacation asked to return ASAP, clear hostel rooms to make way for SPIC MACAY participants

The last thing you want when you're home on vacation is to get a call from your college asking you to come right back and vacate your dorm room, albeit temporarily. But that's exactly what's been happening to some students at JNU over the last week.

As the university is set to host the seventh International SPIC MACAY convention on June 3, students who have gone home are now believed to have been asked to vacate their dorms, at the earliest. The students have been asked to vacate the dormitories from June 1 to 11, to accommodate the event participants. There are also speculations that the luggage and mattresses of a few students are being thrown out of their dormitories.

According to a circular issued by Dhananjay Singh, the university's Dean of Students, all wardens are directed to ensure that the dormitories are vacant from June 1 to June 11, in order to accommodate around 1000 SPIC MACAY participants. While the circular had mentioned the eviction of P3 students (students who belong to Delhi), now the students who are alotted dormitories on first priority are also being asked to vacate. 

"I have come home to Odisha for my semester break. My classes will begin only in July. A few days ago, my hostel caretaker had called me multiple times, asking me to come to the university at the earliest, only to vacate my dormitory," says Aanya*, a student. "It is obviously impossible. The administration is being inconsiderate," she says.

Another student Jhanvi also had a similar story to share. "I was asked to come to JNU in two days to vacate my dormitory. When I told the hostel authorities that this will be impossible since I have a lot of work to do in my hometown, they suggested that my roommate clear my luggage," she says. "But it will be inconvenient for her since she is the only one in the dorm right now and will be forced to clear the luggage for my four other dormmates too. Also, I have the key to my locker," she adds. She also says that there was no prior notification by the administration before the students left for their homes. "Had they informed about this earlier, we would have made an arrangement. But again, dorms are alotted till the end of our course. Why should we vacate abruptly?" she asks. 

The university's administration denied these incidents, says JNUSU General Secretary Aejaz Rather. Aejaz, who is also the Inter-Hall Administration(IHA) Convenor, met with the Students' Welfare Dean on Wednesday to raise these concerns. "The Dean told me that no first priority student is asked to shift. They also told us that no student will be forcefully vacated," he says. 

The seventh International convention of SPIC MACAY will witness the performance by eminent artists across the country like Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Warsi brothers.