JNUSU doesn't exist, will hold student union elections as per Lyngdoh committee: JNU VC

NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) does not have an officially notified students union as the matter is subjudice, its Vice-Chancellor Santishree D Pandit said on Tuesday stressing that the administration is committed to holding the students union elections in accordance with the Lyngdoh committee recommendations.

This comes after the JNUSU on Monday announced it will hold a demonstration outside the Dean of Students (DoS) office over the delay in holding the elections. The last JNUSU polls were held in 2019. The JNU administration and the students union have been at loggerheads over the recognition of the JNUSU since 2019 when the administration refused to officially notify the students union citing technicality in the poll results.

The students union has given a call to 'gherao' the DoS office on January 17 demanding that election dates be notified immediately. "Despite repeated appeals, the JNU Vice Chancellor didn't meet the JNUSU delegation which was scheduled on January 15. "On meeting the other officials including Rector, DoS and Chief Proctor, no concrete time period for election was given to the delegation and the tactic to delay the elections was clear," the JNUSU said in a statement asking the student community to join the protest.

The student union also demanded the revocation of the rustication orders and proctorial inquiries against students for protesting on campus and that the infrastructural issues be addressed. "The students union elections are not halted, we need to follow rules set by the Lyngdoh committee," Pandit Told PTI while adding that the university currently does not have an officially notified students union as the matter is in court. According to Lyngdoh committee recommendations, the student union elections should be conducted within six to eight weeks from the commencement of the semester.

Currently, JNU Ph.D. admissions - which are delayed due to UG and PG exams - are underway with the process expected to continue till the first week of February. The University administration had earlier said that it would conduct the JNUSU elections after the PhD admissions are over. The JNU VC had also said that she will reconsider the request to take back the proctorial inquiries at an appeal stage adding that she cannot repeal cases where the court is involved and an FIR has been filed. "I cannot do contempt of court by quashing inquiries where the court's order was violated," she had told PTI earlier.