Reacting to allegations made by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) over slashing of library funds allocated by the varsity, the JNU administration on 22nd November, 2018 termed the charges “baseless”.
“The university has been allocating to the library every year only an amount of ₹1.7 crore for books and journals from the grant received annually from the University Grants Commission [UGC]. In 2012, the UGC gave a one-time bulk grant to JNU under the 12th plan for five years, for which an extra amount was allocated for the next five years,” the university statement claimed.
“Reports of the annual budget for JNU’s Dr B R Ambedkar (Central) Library being reduced from Rs 8 crore to Rs 1.7 crore are completely baseless. JNU has only been allocating an amount of Rs 1.7 crore per year to the library for books and journals, from its annual UGC grant. In 2012, the University Grants Commission (UGC) gave a one-time, bulk grant to JNU under the 12th plan for five years, from which an extra amount was allocated for the next five years,” said finance officer Heeraman Tiwari in a statement.
As a reply to the university’s statement, the JNUSU said, “The case is clear. The library used to have an annual budget of ₹7 crore to ₹8 crore, which the administration used to spend from various sources. Now if one source has dried up or closed, is it not the administration’s responsibility to push for alternatives as soon as possible?”
