Efforts on to facilitate semester registration for 'willing' students, says JNU VC

New Delhi, Jan 08: HRD Ministry officials met JNU Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar on Wednesday and took stock of efforts being made by the varsity administration to restore normalcy on the campus, officials said.

Kumar, who has been under fire from students and faculty members for not doing enough when they were brutally attacked by a masked mob on the campus, told the officials that efforts were being made to facilitate semester registration for "willing" students.

"Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare and G C Hosur had a meeting with JNU VC at the Ministry today about the efforts being made to restore normalcy on campus. He informed the officials about efforts being made for facilitating semester registration for willing students and a conducive environment for their academic pursuits," a senior ministry official said.

The VC later took to Twitter to inform about the meeting. On Monday, a team of top officials, including JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar, had visited the ministry and updated the top brass about the situation on the campus besides submitting a detailed report of the sequence of events that transpired on Sunday.

However, Kumar was not present at the meeting. He had on Tuesday appealed to the students to put the past behind and return to the varsity premises.

"Our heart goes out to all the injured students. The incident (violence) is unfortunate. I would like to tell students that JNU campus is a secure place. I urge all students to come back to the campus. Let us put the past behind," the vice chancellor had said.

Violence broke out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday night as a group of masked people armed with sticks attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus, prompting the administration to call in the police.

At least 35 people, including JNU Students' Union president Aishe Ghosh, were injured in the violence in the university. They were admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre here and discharged on Monday.

The Left-controlled JNUSU and the ABVP blamed each other for the violence that continued for nearly two hours. The ministry had on Sunday sought an immediate report from the registrar after the violence broke out on the campus and students and teachers were attacked.

Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank,' who was in Bhubhaneshwar a day after the incident, said educational institutions cannot be allowed to become "political adda". He vowed "strong action" against the perpetrators of the violence at JNU.