JNU doesn’t take things lying down

The big protests held by the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University over the proposal to hike hostel fees involved issues that go beyond the fraught relationship between the BJP government at the Centre and the students. The students of the university have come into conflict with the government and the ruling party and its affiliates quite a few times over many issues, and these had a dominant political dimension. A steep hike in fees is behind the latest protests. Students from the entire political spectrum participated in the protests. They even gheraoed Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, who assured them that their grievances would be addressed. Two days later, the proposed hike was partially withdrawn. But the overall fee structure remains much the same.

The protests have raised the issue of the cost of higher education, and it does not concern only JNU but is relevant for the whole country. Higher education in public universities is subsidised, and even students will not reject the idea of periodic, reasonable increases. But in JNU, they were raised 300% in one go. Higher education should be affordable to most students, especially those from the weaker sections. Through the last many decades, JNU’s low fees have enabled tens of thousands of students from these sections to access higher education, and many of them have made a mark in many fields of life. About 40% of the students of JNU are from socially and economically disadvantaged families. The argument that students are entitled to scholarships and loans cannot be a justification for such a steep hike in fees. There may be a case for a hike but a gradual and paced increase after taking the students into confidence would have averted the present agitation. Many students cannot afford education in private universities, and so it must be ensured that the rising numbers of aspiring students should get adequate opportunities in public institutions. The unrest at JNU has underlined this.

The students’ positions on some other issues are also right and reasonable. The proposal to impose curfew timings, entry restrictions for women in men’s hostels and dress codes in dining areas and so on are not ideas to be implemented in a university. The administration has no right to impose its conduct code on students. It has done well to withdraw those proposals. Apart from these issues, the students have a rightful grouse about the vice-chancellor’s vindictive and political attitude towards them. JNU has a tradition of responding strongly to the excesses of power and authority.