Demand to re-open Jamia Millia Islamia campus intensifies

New Delhi: Different students unions have demanded the reopening of the Jamia Millia campus which has been closed since the outbreak of the COVID, in line with other Central universities that have begun phase-wise re-opening in the national capital.

As Jamia has not yet announced its plan on re-opening, student groups like the All India Students' Association, Campus Front of India, Students' Islamic Organisation, Students' Federation of India, and others have demanded the campus to be reopened at the earliest.

Saying that the people have started using all the public facilities with adequate sanitization and social distancing, the student organizations, in a joint statement questioned why the campuses are not open yet, while most of the institutions, public places, etc have already opened.

"For almost two years since the establishment of a lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, the students have been facing serious problems due to the closure of the school, college, and university campuses. At a point in time, it was necessary to close all campuses due to the increasing Covid cases and health issues. But now, the situation has totally changed. ," the joint statement said

The organisations also pointed out the directives of International institutions like UNICEF which have already said that there is no point in keeping campuses closed.

"Without re-opening, the education system will deteriorate further. So, we demand the university authorities re-open the University campus immediately," they added

The organizations said a representation of students went to meet the proctor about the issue but got the impression that "there is not much possibility of reopening".

Meanwhile, quoting a senior official, Indian Express reports that as Jamia is a central university, the University administration is waiting for directions from the UGC before making a decision to re-open.

Earlier, on September 10, In a press conference student leaders from top institutes of the country had demanded the reopening of college and university campuses, which have been shut for the past one and a half years due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

The activists, who belong to Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), had also urged the state and central governments to provide concession in fees to the students who are facing financial constraints due to the pandemic and lockdown. They also advocated for a special economic package to provide remedial measures for the huge academic loss and vaccination for all the students, teachers, and staff.