JNU students gherao administration block over compulsory attendance issue

JNU students today "gheraoed" the administration block demanding a meeting with the vice chancellor on the issue of compulsory attendance, and stopped Chief Proctor Kaushal Kumar and Rector-1 Chintamani Mahapatra from leaving the building. Hundreds of students, led by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU), picketed outside all the gates of the building and confronted and stopped senior university officials who tried to go out. Vice chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar was in his office. The students demanded that the administration revoke the compulsory 75 per cent attendance required in an academic year for availing scholarships and fellowships, and convene a meeting of the Academic Council which was postponed indefinitely. Since 11 AM, a group of students have performed skits and mimes and sang songs near the main entrance of the administration block. Security guards were deployed to block the entry of students into the building. A human chain was also formed around the building. In a letter written to the administration in morning, the JNUSU said, "Students of this university are waiting for the vice chancellor to have a dialogue with JNUSU representatives." "There has been no call to lay siege to the administration building. All administrative works have been going on without any obstruction," JNUSU joint secretary Shubhanshu Singh said, adding that the gherao would continue till the vice chancellor met the students. Rector-1 Mahapatra, when he was stopped by the students from going out, said he could not take a decision on the matters in individual capacity and that there would be dialogue with the students.