JNU manual restricts protests and posters

Students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) can now face a penalty of ₹20,000 for staging a dharna, hold a hunger strike, and for protesting around the residence of any university official or within a 100-meter radius of any academic and administrative complex, according to a new Chief Proctor's Office (CPO) manual.

The manual, which lists the "rules of discipline and proper conduct of students of Jawaharlal Nehru University" is the latest among such documents that are updated by the University from time to time. It says that the rules were approved by JNU's executive council on November 24.

The university has uploaded the manual on the JNÜ website, jnu. ac.in When contacted JNU vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said the rules were "already in place". "We have not increased the amount of fine. It was already there. It is just that the Delhi high court had asked JNU to legally draft it in the manual. The manual was unanimously passed during the executive council meeting held last month and even members of the teachers' union were present there," she said.

"The JNU administration under me has not fined any student for merely protesting on campus. We have rather removed all the fines that were imposed on students by the previous administration," she added.