Date:31/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/31/stories/2008033155391000.htm

National

IDSA decision angers JNU students

Parul Sharma

Library facilities denied after books were found torn

NEW DELHI: Several students of Jawaharlal Nehru University here are agitated over the recent decision of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses -- the premier strategic and security studies think tank -- to bar them from using its library facilities.

“In an arbitrary move, the IDSA administration altogether stopped the students from accessing the library facilities last month. Even students with recommendation letters from faculty members have been disallowed to avail themselves of the facilities, thereby literally shutting out their accessibility,” charged Tiainla, student councillor of the School of International Studies at JNU.

“This insensitive step on the part of the IDSA has made the situation very difficult for the students, particularly of SIS, many of whom have to submit their dissertations and thesis in July. The next three months are extremely crucial for these students and any hindrances such as these would have serious ramifications,” she claimed.

The IDSA is funded by the Union Defence Ministry, but functions autonomously. Its library has been a big source of reference for JNU students in general and SIS students in particular for many years now.

The books and journals in the library have often been helpful for not just research scholars but also students at the M.A. level.

However, the IDSA administration said the decision to prevent the students’ entry was taken after books in the library were found torn, marked and mutilated.

“We were giving the students a special facility. We allowed them to come and sit in the library and study though they could not get any books issued from our library. But the problem arose when we noticed that books have been lost and mutilated,” said IDSA Director-General Narendra S. Sisodia.

“The library is a national treasure. We value our relationship with JNU, but students have to follow certain norms,” he added.

A few days ago, the Dean of the School of International Studies at JNU, Pushpesh Pant, also wrote to Mr. Sisodia urging him to reconsider his decision.

“We have an umbilical relationship with IDSA. We are grateful to them for making their material available to us. I think there has been some misunderstanding at some level. So we have requested them to tell us why they have taken this decision and that if there is a problem, JNU will rectify it. If any student is found guilty, we will take action,” said Prof. Pant.

Even as students have undertaken a signature campaign over the issue and plan to stage a protest demonstration on the campus this Monday, Mr. Sisodia suggested that a mechanism of inter-library loan could be worked out for the benefit of JNU students.

“It is very much possible that the JNU library can take books from us and then provide them to its students. We are also revising the rules and getting a surveillance system installed to ensure that no one damages the books,” he said.