The High-Level Committee constituted by JNU administration has recommended that a 50 percent concession in utility and service charges to all students in the University. The committee has also recommended a 75 percent reduction in service charges for all eligible Below Poverty Line students. These recommendations have also been approved by the Executive Council, a statement from the administration said.
"The HLC considered the feedback of the student representatives submitted to the dean of students' office through emails and made significant recommendations to benefit all students," the statement said. Considering that they had made these recommendations, the administration has asked the students to call off their strike calling the continuation of the protest an 'unacceptable national loss'. "The committee scrutinised the estimated utility and service charges in the hostels, which is Rs 2000 a month and has recommended that Rs 1000 per month may be charged. The Committee also recommended a 75 percent reduction in utility and service charges for all eligible BPL students who would now be charged Rs 500," the administration appointed committee said.
The circular said that they expect these recommendations will go down well with the student community, "The student strike has caused enormous academic loss to a vast number of students in the university. The administration shut down due to occupation of the administration building has compounded the woes of the JNU community." The Registrar asked the student community to end their strike with immediate effect in the 'academic interest' of their fellow students. The administration said that the recommendations will be implemented from January 2020.
"The university's image has already taken a beating and normalcy must return at the earliest," the administration said. Reminding us of a message IIT Madras put up after Fathima Latheef's suicide, which also spoke about how the image of the institution had been impacted because of all the social media attention to the incident.
The student community is yet to respond to the new circular. However, in their protests, they had been demanding a complete rollback of the fees. The students were also surprised by the constitution of the HLC because the MHRD had also constituted a committee to hold a discussion with the students and had stated that it would make recommendations to the University as well. The students had questioned who they were supposed to depend on now that there were two committees.
