JNU still has no COVID-19 care centre on campus, students’ union questions why

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) has questioned the university’s delay in setting up a COVID care centre on campus even as there is a steady surge of infections across the capital. 

 

The students’ union has written to the varsity administration seeking answers. However, an official from the university has informed on condition of anonymity that the Delhi government is yet to provide any infrastructural facility for the centre.

 

The students’ body said that the Delhi High Court had last year directed JNU to set up a COVID care centre equipped with quarantine and isolation facilities for the use of the university community. But no such facility has been established yet. 

 

JNUSU claimed that in the latest wave, at least 10 students have tested positive till now for COVID-19.

 

“However, even as the Omicron variant has led to a rise in cases, after eight months of the high court order, no concrete response has been forthcoming on behalf of the JNU administration,” the JNUSU letter to the varsity read.

 

The letter further added, “Due to lack of adequate facilities on campus, they (the COVID-19 infected students) have had to be shifted out of the campus. We believe that the inordinate delay in the setting up of the COVID care centre is against the letter and spirit of the Delhi High Court order…” 

 

This is also “antithetical” to the safety and interest of the university community, JNUSU insisted, saying that the JNU administration should immediately recourse to the construction of the COVID care centre and make it operational at the earliest.

 

The students’ union also claimed that despite rising cases, no COVID-19 testing camp has been held in the university in the recent past.

 

“With increasing cases, there is a possibility that the nearby testing centres are exhausted and are facing a shortage of testing kits. Therefore, the university should immediately take steps to have a permanent in-house testing facility,” the JNUSU said in its letter.

 

The university official said that though all clearances have been given and there is no problem from the university’s end, other particulars like staff were supposed to be provided by the New Delhi government. “We were only supposed to allot space for it,” the official said. 

 

JNU has suspended biometric attendance on campus for its faculty and staff and put in place a set of guidelines as extra precaution to avoid crowding.