JNU students protest against alleged discrepancies in hostel allotment

NEW DELHI: Students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Thursday staged a protest on the campus against alleged discrepancies in the allotment of hostel seats by the administration.

The protest was organised by the AISA outside the office of the JNU's Dean of Students. The protesters claimed students who had already been assigned hostels have been given rooms again by the administration. They also accused the administration of "exacerbating the hostel crisis" by converting the Sabarmati dorm into a COVID-19 isolation centre.

There was no immediate response from the office of the Dean of Students over the issue. "There are multiple discrepancies in the hostel list. It has names of only 78 students, despite the fact that many more hostel seats are vacant," the AISA said in a statement.

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"We have come to know that many rooms in Damodar dormitory and hostel are vacant. Despite this, allotment to Damodar is not being done. The Dean of Students, Sudheer Singh, has refused to meet the protesting students. We demand that Sudheer Singh resigns from his position as DoS as he has failed to ensure accommodation to students," it added.

The protesting students also demanded that workers involved in the construction of Barak Hostel are paid their dues so that they resume work.