New Delhi: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) has urged the varsity administration to conduct a thorough audit of science laboratories and introduce safety measures, alleging that inadequate facilities and discriminatory behaviour by professors are causing health problems among students.
In an email to the vice-chancellor, deans of the science schools and the director of the Advanced Instrumentation Research Facility (AIRF), the students' body also sought regulation of laboratory timings and gender and caste sensitisation workshops for all professors.
Claiming that "a strict hierarchy between scholars and supervisors" was being maintained "by terrorising students and moral policing", the union demanded that the administration look into such behaviour and take action against those found responsible.
It also alleged that some professors were forcing students to remain in laboratories until midnight, unnecessarily, affecting their health. The union said science scholars were required to work in labs for long hours and demanded that chairs provided to them be replaced with comfortable ones.
The students' body further alleged that a lack of safety gear in laboratories was exposing students to health risks, including while handling mercury without proper gloves.
It demanded that the labs be audited and made safe for scientific experiments, and that the administration examine the number of students facing health issues due to laboratory work.
The union also sought that laboratory timings be regulated in accordance with UGC guidelines and that scholars be allowed to decide whether their research projects require late-night work.
"We believe that JNU scholars are well informed to decide when their project needs late-night attention," it said.
The JNUSU further demanded gender and caste sensitisation workshops for all professors and strict action against any professor found harassing students.
The union's demands come amid its broader campaign on student welfare and academic conditions at the university.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
