JNUSU to take out protest march to Parliament on first day of winter session

The Jawaharlal Nehru Students' Union (JNUSU) will take out a march to Parliament on Monday to protest against the hostel fee hike. The JNUSU said it would be a march to save public education and appeal to MPs to take up the cause. Students are protesting inside the administration block of the university against the increase in hostel fee, even though JNU announced a rollback in the hike on Wednesday evening. The students have dubbed the partial rollback as an "eyewash". 

On Wednesday, JNU administration announced a rollback the hostel fees after massive and continuous protest by the students. Announcing the rollback on Twitter, the Education Secretary R Subrahmanyam said that the JNU executive committee has rolled back the fees that was hiked. The Secretary also added that it is time to go back to classes as the JNU executive committee has proposed a scheme for economic assistance to EWS students. 

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This comes after the students on Wednesday held a protest outside the UGC and submitted a memorandum of their demands to the EC members. The students led a massive protest since Monday morning at the convocation venue against the "anti-student" policies of the varsity's administration. While the administration barricaded the area outside the auditorium, clashes were reported between the forces deployed for security and JNUSU students.

READ: JNU issues notice and asks students to clear mess dues by November 14

Why were the students protesting?

The students' union has been on a strike against the Draft Hostel Manual which was approved by the Inter-Hall Administration. They claim that the manual has provisions for fee hike, curfew timings and dress code restrictions for students. They have said they will not end the strike till the Hostel Manual is withdrawn. It is said that after the fee hike is implemented, JNU will be most expensive Central University. 

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Controversy over alleged vandalism 

Earlier on Thursday, objectionable and abusive remarks were written around a soon-to-be-unveiled statue of Swami Vivekananda on JNU campus amid student protests. Soon after the incident, JNU released an official statement condemning the act and assured that strict action will be taken against those involved. While the student union has maintained that they were not involved in the incident and had reportedly washed off the written remarks after it came to light, the Delhi police has lodged an FIR on Sunday. Earlier, JNU administration also had filed two complaints against those who had defaced the VC's building during protests.

Winter Session of Parliament

The Winter Session of Parliament is scheduled to be held between November 18 and December 13. A total of 20 sittings will be there is this session. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chaired an all-party meet ahead of the winter session of the Parliament. The Prime Minister said that he is looking forward to a productive winter session of Parliament, where people-centric and development-oriented issues will be discussed. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday appealed to all political parties for cooperation to ensure the smooth functioning of the House.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Lok Sabha speaker Birla said, the opposition parties will be allowed to raise any issue in the House after discussion in the Business Advisory Committee. Union Ministers Prahlad Patel and Arjun Ram Meghwal, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK leader TR Balu and TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay, LJP's Chirag Paswan, BSP's Danish Ali and AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi among others attended the meeting. Meanwhile, the government has convened an all-party meeting in New Delhi on Sunday. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has also convened a meeting of leaders of different political parties in the Upper House.

READ: JNU rolls back hostel fee-hike after massive students' protest