The Jawaharlal Nehru University appears to have a security problem. On March 24, one of the professors of the varsity reported that their house had been ransacked and all their valuables had been stolen. According to a statement issued by the JNU Teachers' Association, the house is located at 1442, New Poorvanchal at the JNU campus. The faculty in question had been out of town at the time of the burglary. However, what makes this matter sinister is that the faculty claims they had informed the security team of the varsity about their absence.
The Cyclops Security and Allied Services, which is in charge of the security of the campus, have been accused of incompetency and alleged complicity in the burglaries. There have been, according to a detailed statement issued by the JNUTA, 13 such instances of breach of security at the residences of the faculty since 2019. Out of these, there were three cases where the burglars had stolen everything of value. The JNUTA also claims that in instances of long absence, the security agency was informed accordingly, after a circular issued by the JNU administration urged the faculty to do so. "Although FIRs have been filed in all of the cases, there have been no arrests made by the police. The response from Cyclops has also been indifferent," says the JNUTA.
"It is relevant to point out that the expenditure on JNU security has nearly doubled in the last 4 years for which the annual accounts are available, from 8.3 crores in 2015-16 to more than 15 crores in 2019-20. We are given to understand that the university is struggling with a huge financial deficit in the current financial year. We question the rationale of the huge increases in the security expenses in this backdrop, which has ironically added to the insecurity of the campus," said the statement.
The lapses in security have also affected students, says a source from the varsity. "The incorporation of the Cyclops agency has not been transparent and there is consensus amongst the students that they are incapable of providing security to the varsity. This is because they are short-staffed. There has been an increase in the instances of sexual harassment by outsiders on the campus as well," claims a student.
It has also come to light that the JNU administration has appointed a security committee that is apparently looking to hire another security agency. The faculty demands the immediate replacement of the security agency and urges the administration to ensure a robust and transparent system is followed when appointing the next agency. Additionally, the staff demands that the varsity provide compensation to the lecturers who have been affected by these alleged burglaries.
Edexlive has reached out to the Chief Security Officer and the Vice-Chancellor of JNU, and this article will be updated if and when a response is received.
