Through CUET, NTA is disrupting the academic cycle of JNU and every other university: JNUSU president

NEW DELHI: Dhananjay, a PhD student from Bihar, was elected president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) in March 2024. He is the first Dalit JNUSU president since Batti Lal Bairwa in 1996. In an interview with Careers360, he spoke about the functioning of JNUSU, impact of the National Testing Agency (NTA) exams and students’ struggles in higher education institutions

Q. What has been your achievement as JNUSU president so far?

A. Through a strong JNUSU, we have been able to drastically reduce the fear of violence and hooliganism from students’ minds. They are now confident about voicing their issues and opinions.

We are fighting against fund cuts and delays in fellowships. There is JNUSU pressure on the JNU administration as we are constantly monitoring their policies and progress of infrastructure work. We are working as a pressure group. We are constantly demanding funds for JNUSU from the administration.

The safety of women in JNU campus, scholarship hike, infrastructural and water crisis are our core agenda and we are working towards all the issues.

Q. What is JNUSU doing to push for better hostel infrastructure, as promised in the election manifesto?

A. We gave a written complaint to the vice-chancellor and other JNU officials and renovation work in several hostels and academic buildings have started which were pending for years. The approach roads from one hostel to another are also being constructed during my tenure as the JNUSU president.

We are constantly demanding permanent buildings and hostels for students studying at the School of Engineering (SoE). They are paying high fees but they are not getting any facilities. The administration has promised us that the construction work for the permanent building of SoE will start soon. It is a big victory for us.

Barak hostel has already been constructed but administration is yet to allot rooms to students. JNU officials are saying they do not have funds to run the hostel.

In three meetings with JNU VC Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, I had asked her to give us in writing that ‘JNU is asking for funds to run the hostel but the government is not providing the money’ and then we will fight against the government. But, she has not given this in writing. We have warned the administration about a massive protest in JNU campus for the opening of this hostel.

Also read JNU’s Hostel Mess: Students face water shortage, broken ceilings, crowding, fee hike

Q. How are students impacted by the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission?

A. Through CUET, the National Testing Agency (NTA) is disrupting the academic cycle of every university, including JNU. The JNUSU demands that the JNU administration conducts its own exam for its courses to fix the academic cycle.

Lakhs of students are affected every year because of NTA’s incompetencies, but there is no accountability. Students from marginalised backgrounds are missing the CUET exam as their centres are in far-off places. Even when they write their exams, there are irregularities and paper leaks.

If the centralised exams for admission to UG, PG and PhD courses by NTA continue, we will not be able to regularise the academic cycle. The quality of education will suffer as teachers will be forced to finish their syllabus in short durations. This ultimately will harm the students.

JNUSU has written four letters to the administration seeking a JNU entrance examination for all courses. However, the administration is being forced by the central government to continue with the NTA exams. The administration acknowledges the problems but does not take any concrete action.

Q. How the Higher Education Funding Authority (HEFA) loan is impacting students and what JNUSU is doing to protect students from paying high fees?

A. The loan system in public higher education through HEFA is a big jump towards fee hike and privatisation. Now, universities are being asked to generate internal revenues and they do so by hiking fees and doing research for companies. They are launching self-finance courses and opening new centres and charging high fees from students to repay HEFA loans.

However, through JNUSU led students protest against fee hike in JNU, we have been able to ensure that students from marginalised and poor-financial households continue to receive quality higher education at a minimum fee.

A. Being a JNUSU president, how are you ensuring that students from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and minorities do not face discrimination on campus?

A. It is true that SC, ST, OBC and minority community students are facing discrimination in higher education campuses. Even when a student from marginalised caste and communities score high marks in written exams for PhD entrance, he is given zero or just one mark in an interview so that he does not become a researcher and a professor.

Casteism is commonly seen in many higher education institutions and data on student suicides show that most of them belong to SC, ST and OBC communities.

We have been demanding proper functioning of the SC-ST cell in JNU. We are also demanding that marks of students in viva and a written test for PhD admission be made public every year. Universities should take prompt action on all complaints of caste-related discrimination.

Q. What inspired you to pursue PhD in JNU and remain active in student politics?

A. After completing my bachelor’s from Delhi University (DU) and master’s from Ambedkar University, Delhi (AUD), I did MPhil from JNU. And now I am pursuing PhD in the School of Arts and Aesthetics at JNU.

I come from Gaya district in Bihar where there is no awareness about PhD. Most people in my district believe that PhD is a waste of time. But I thought that it was very important for me to work in academia and by becoming a professor, I could inspire others to pursue higher education. I want to make people understand that time taken for doing research is not a waste of time and that understanding education is important.

I joined student politics because I believe it is my responsibility to ensure that people like me come forward to study in central universities like DU and JNU. Through All India Students Association (AISA), we are fighting for the representation of marginalised communities in higher education and academia. We are fighting against anti-student policies and other national issues. Our appeal to students is to ask questions and fight for students’ rights.

Also read Two-year-old Arunachal Pradesh University aims to be a tribal research hub, despite all odds

Q. How do you see the allegations of saffronisation in higher education?

A. During JNUSU elections in March 2024, the faculty members who were appointed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were afraid that they would be rebuked by the RSS for Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) loss. Many incompetent people are being appointed as faculty members in JNU on RSS recommendations and they are spreading RSS ideology among students. Even our JNU VC is proud of her association with the RSS.