JNU students protesting UGC notification call off strike

Jawaharlal Nehru University students who have been blockading the administrative block for the last 18 days in protest against UGC amendments in admission policy on Sunday called off the agitation.

“The students have ended the blockade due to the rise of dissatisfaction amongst staff and fellow students due to the inconvenience being caused because of disruption in administrative work,” the agitating students said in a joint statement.

The JNU administration, termed the act as “illegitimate and amounting to gross misconduct” and claimed that some students were still camping at the admin block where protests have been prohibited by the varsity.

The students have been agitating against the recent amendments in the admission policy of the university following certain guidelines by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and remained adamant on preventing the officials from entering office until their demands were met.

The students say the new amendments will lead to massive seat cuts in PHD and Mphil courses.

The administration had issued several appeals to students to call off the blockade alleging they were “misusing the social justice card” and the act was causing disruption of administrative work not only causing financial losses but also affecting the entire JNU community.