JNU: Down With ABVP's Violence Culture
AISA Statement
The Jawaharlal Nehru University witnessed yet another incident of violence by the ABVP. On 22 August, ABVP goons barged into the Scholarship & Project (S&P) Section of the Ad Block and attacked the staff present there. Files containing information on scholarship disbursal of students were thrown here and there, computers were broken, and students' scholarship forms were misplaced and torn! As opposed to ABVP's claim that ABVP went to demand scholarships, the act of destroying documents exposes ABVP's anti-student attitude. This shows tacit complicity with the JNU admin in the non-disbursal of scholarships to students.
The staff of the S&P Section is not the one who sanctions scholarships. It is the Vice Chancellor and Finance Officer responsible for sanctioning fellowships. Moreover, the S&P Section has only 6 staff in comparison to the 18 staff which used to be there some 2 years ago. Demand for increasing staff should be the primary demand to ensure speedy disbursal of fellowships. Harassing and attacking the overworked staff is not the solution! Why did ABVP not gherao the VC's bungalow? Why did ABVP not gherao the UGC Chairperson, Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, who is ultimately responsible for giving grants to JNU? The attack on the staff is mere eyewash to protect those at the helm of affairs.
The NEP 2020 and dwindling funding for Higher Education
In an answer to a question raised by Shri Abdul Wahab in the Parliament, it was disclosed that the grants given to JNU were systematically reduced. JNU was granted only Rs. 7 Crore in 2021-22 as compared to Rs. 30 Crore in 2017-18 for infrastructure purposes. Why is ABVP not questioning the Central Government for not giving sufficient grants to the university?
The NEP 2020 has made it clear that the government won't be funding higher education. Public universities have been asked to generate funds on their own. Fund cuts will only lead to decreasing scholarships and increasing fees for students! Why has the ABVP not spoken against fund cuts and NEP ever?
Furthermore the collapse of higher education system is visible not just in JNU, but also at the national level. We have seen the complete failure of the UGC and NTA in conducting CUET and NET exams.
The CUET-UG exam has been happening for over a month now, because of recurring issues in every shift leading to the cancellation and postponement of the exams. The NET exam is being delayed time and again. There is no news even of the JNU PhD entrance exam, which is also supposed to be conducted by NTA. The situation is complete chaos. Placing incompetent people has led to the perpetual instability of all institutions.
