PaRCha - JNU - JNUSU - 2006 ID-62729
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.
.
.
Other issues: rin the visit of the UGC team for the expans1on of JNU under XI Plan, JNUSU subm1Hed its proposal an~ demands.
0 .
9.
u d ex ansion of un1versity both m the areas of Academic programmes as well as vanous ~~~=~~r~c~~~ess~~h ~esp~ct to hostels, academic complex, 24X7 l1brary a~d h~alth ce.ntre, water cns1s tra~sport .
rt r Tt infrastructure technical support for PH students and fmanctal asststance and fellowship and !poo~nt~~~1t1~~·faculty and st~ff particularly for mess. library and cleaning jobs A comprehe~stve, t1me bound a~d sp~ed expansion of JNU has become all the more important parttcularly tn the context of the 1m~lementat1on of 27 Yodsc /eservation and concomitant 54% increase of seats To this end, JNUSU has been commttled to ensunng the participation of various sections of the university community so that there can be comprehensive act1on on these .
matters. .
Initiatives and achievements at the School level .
Fact-findin·g team to Vidarbha: As the agrarian crisis continues, unde~ the lea~ers~ip of SSS Councillors, a fact-finding team was organized to Vidarbha between 21-29 May to examme agranan Indebtedness and government policies that have led to innumerable farmer suicides and left the region destitute and helpless. The twelve-memb~r team visited three tehslls of Pusad, Mahagaon, and Arni 1n Yavatmal D1strict. The reason for the su1c1des are rooted 1n the deadly cocktail of systematic withdrawal of government support, decreasing subsidtes. Increasing costs of production, repeated crop failure, all of wh1ch are adding to a vtcious cycle of Indebtedness. More shameful and disturbing is the fact that the government whose agrarian pol1c1es are to blame is putting the blame on the farmers by alleging farmers' "psychologicalu problems, -"addictions", and even alleged "laziness"! Mere political maneuvers in terms of packages or waiving loans will not yield results unless governments fundamentally change the1r approach of preferential treatment to corporates at the cost of the peasants and the agricultural sector .
SSS Debates: Intervening in the Burning Questions of our times: As councillors 1n SSS, we hold that it 1s our responsibility as thinking students to quest1on the prevailtng commonsense of our ttmes. Instead of allowmg academics to be an exercise of manufacturing consent, it is mperative to inteNene and ensure the l1nk between academics and political engagement. .
The beginning of 2008 saw a rash of cases of violence against women in several metros A public meeting Beyond the Headlines: Combating Sexual Harassment in the City' was organized to discuss ways of dealing with the forms of sexual harassment that recur in cities. In the wake of a continued offens1ve by the communal fascist forces, a public lecture by Prof Harbans Mukhia was organized on "India's Past· Communal Myth Maktng and Histoncal Reality" to expose distortions In academic writtng as well as the agendas that feed them. A 2-day-lecture senes was held by Prof Amit Bhaduri. a formidable voice against mainstream economic orthodoxy. entitled ·understandtng Pol1t1cs through the Lens of Unorthodox Economics". These lectures examined the relevance of economic theory in understanding contemporary debates as well as examining issues and definitions of growth and democracy .
Registration to Priya: The JNUSU office bearers and we as councilors made several inteNentions for ensuring registration to Priya, a student of CESP. Given the fact that she comes from a deprived background and suffered from illness. we argued that due consideration must be made by her guide and faculty members to relax the rules in her case. Initially, the faculty of CESP remained unresponsive to the 1ssue Eventually. due to consistent student pressure the faculty extended her registration so that she could get her synopsis conftrmed. .
Resolving demands of PH students: As Councilors of SSS, we have consistently raised the 1ssue of ensunng that this campus is equally accessible to Physically Challenged students Many of the 1ssues ra1sed in SSS 1n th1s regard were g1ven centre-stage priority by JNUSU: whether this be the construction of a ramp to access the DSA and Extm Bank Libraries. the installation of software rn the scl1ools for VH students, or the fixing and proper working of computers in the Helen Keller unit. Another initiative has been ensuring a pool of writers to aid VH students dunng exams. In each case, our understanding has been that these are rights that the un1vers1ty community must ensure and safeguard. .
Participation in the SSS Library Committee: As SSS Councilors we have worked closely wtth teachers and the SSS Library Committee to find solutions to the problems that exist in the facilities and functtoning of the Central Library It was as a result of these efforts that it became clear that there was a complete lack of transparency in the functioning of the Central library and that the working conditions were atrocious The demand for electroniC connectivity between the catalogues of the departmental libraries and the central library has been ra1sed by us and ts being followed at all the requisite levels. We have also circulated a requisition form among students so as to ensure that there is greater student involvement in the purchase of books for the library. .
Departmental Libraries: The issue of the departmental libraries was ratsed for the first t1me by us as co~nctlors and pursued with the Deans and the Chairpersons of various centres. SSS councilors intervened on the issue of the CHS OSA, protesting the underpayment of staff members there, as a result of which the staff member was hired on a new contract and the timing of the library was extended till 8 p.m. last semester W1th regard to the demand for Xerox facilities in departmental libraries, there have been some improvements tn this regard w1th CSRD allowing for Xeroxtng of materials, CSSS allowing limited Xeroxing, and CPS agreetng to have xeroxed textbooks and reqUired readings with the support of the student faculty committee While t11e issue of exlens1on of timtngs 1s sttll a pressmg one, as counc1lors we were able to ensure tt1at the ttming of the departmental llbranes was extended dunng the .
.
PaRCha - JNU - JNUSU - 2006 ID-62729
.
.
.
.
Other issues: rin the visit of the UGC team for the expans1on of JNU under XI Plan, JNUSU subm1Hed its proposal an~ demands.
0 .
9.
u d ex ansion of un1versity both m the areas of Academic programmes as well as vanous ~~~=~~r~c~~~ess~~h ~esp~ct to hostels, academic complex, 24X7 l1brary a~d h~alth ce.ntre, water cns1s tra~sport .
rt r Tt infrastructure technical support for PH students and fmanctal asststance and fellowship and !poo~nt~~~1t1~~·faculty and st~ff particularly for mess. library and cleaning jobs A comprehe~stve, t1me bound a~d sp~ed expansion of JNU has become all the more important parttcularly tn the context of the 1m~lementat1on of 27 Yodsc /eservation and concomitant 54% increase of seats To this end, JNUSU has been commttled to ensunng the participation of various sections of the university community so that there can be comprehensive act1on on these .
matters. .
Initiatives and achievements at the School level .
Fact-findin·g team to Vidarbha: As the agrarian crisis continues, unde~ the lea~ers~ip of SSS Councillors, a fact-finding team was organized to Vidarbha between 21-29 May to examme agranan Indebtedness and government policies that have led to innumerable farmer suicides and left the region destitute and helpless. The twelve-memb~r team visited three tehslls of Pusad, Mahagaon, and Arni 1n Yavatmal D1strict. The reason for the su1c1des are rooted 1n the deadly cocktail of systematic withdrawal of government support, decreasing subsidtes. Increasing costs of production, repeated crop failure, all of wh1ch are adding to a vtcious cycle of Indebtedness. More shameful and disturbing is the fact that the government whose agrarian pol1c1es are to blame is putting the blame on the farmers by alleging farmers' "psychologicalu problems, -"addictions", and even alleged "laziness"! Mere political maneuvers in terms of packages or waiving loans will not yield results unless governments fundamentally change the1r approach of preferential treatment to corporates at the cost of the peasants and the agricultural sector .
SSS Debates: Intervening in the Burning Questions of our times: As councillors 1n SSS, we hold that it 1s our responsibility as thinking students to quest1on the prevailtng commonsense of our ttmes. Instead of allowmg academics to be an exercise of manufacturing consent, it is mperative to inteNene and ensure the l1nk between academics and political engagement. .
The beginning of 2008 saw a rash of cases of violence against women in several metros A public meeting Beyond the Headlines: Combating Sexual Harassment in the City' was organized to discuss ways of dealing with the forms of sexual harassment that recur in cities. In the wake of a continued offens1ve by the communal fascist forces, a public lecture by Prof Harbans Mukhia was organized on "India's Past· Communal Myth Maktng and Histoncal Reality" to expose distortions In academic writtng as well as the agendas that feed them. A 2-day-lecture senes was held by Prof Amit Bhaduri. a formidable voice against mainstream economic orthodoxy. entitled ·understandtng Pol1t1cs through the Lens of Unorthodox Economics". These lectures examined the relevance of economic theory in understanding contemporary debates as well as examining issues and definitions of growth and democracy .
Registration to Priya: The JNUSU office bearers and we as councilors made several inteNentions for ensuring registration to Priya, a student of CESP. Given the fact that she comes from a deprived background and suffered from illness. we argued that due consideration must be made by her guide and faculty members to relax the rules in her case. Initially, the faculty of CESP remained unresponsive to the 1ssue Eventually. due to consistent student pressure the faculty extended her registration so that she could get her synopsis conftrmed. .
Resolving demands of PH students: As Councilors of SSS, we have consistently raised the 1ssue of ensunng that this campus is equally accessible to Physically Challenged students Many of the 1ssues ra1sed in SSS 1n th1s regard were g1ven centre-stage priority by JNUSU: whether this be the construction of a ramp to access the DSA and Extm Bank Libraries. the installation of software rn the scl1ools for VH students, or the fixing and proper working of computers in the Helen Keller unit. Another initiative has been ensuring a pool of writers to aid VH students dunng exams. In each case, our understanding has been that these are rights that the un1vers1ty community must ensure and safeguard. .
Participation in the SSS Library Committee: As SSS Councilors we have worked closely wtth teachers and the SSS Library Committee to find solutions to the problems that exist in the facilities and functtoning of the Central Library It was as a result of these efforts that it became clear that there was a complete lack of transparency in the functioning of the Central library and that the working conditions were atrocious The demand for electroniC connectivity between the catalogues of the departmental libraries and the central library has been ra1sed by us and ts being followed at all the requisite levels. We have also circulated a requisition form among students so as to ensure that there is greater student involvement in the purchase of books for the library. .
Departmental Libraries: The issue of the departmental libraries was ratsed for the first t1me by us as co~nctlors and pursued with the Deans and the Chairpersons of various centres. SSS councilors intervened on the issue of the CHS OSA, protesting the underpayment of staff members there, as a result of which the staff member was hired on a new contract and the timing of the library was extended till 8 p.m. last semester W1th regard to the demand for Xerox facilities in departmental libraries, there have been some improvements tn this regard w1th CSRD allowing for Xeroxtng of materials, CSSS allowing limited Xeroxing, and CPS agreetng to have xeroxed textbooks and reqUired readings with the support of the student faculty committee While t11e issue of exlens1on of timtngs 1s sttll a pressmg one, as counc1lors we were able to ensure tt1at the ttming of the departmental llbranes was extended dunng the .
.