Increasing thefts on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus have left students and teachers worried. Both sides blame the inefficiency of Cyclops Security and Allied Services, which is in charge of the security in the varsity. Adding to several such previous instances, a major burglary was reported from a senior professor's residence recently, but teachers state that nothing has been done yet to curb the menace.
As per a statement issued on October 22 by the JNUTA (JNU Teachers' Association), "on the night of 28th September 2022, there was a major break-in at 47 Dakshinapuram," the senior professor's residence, during his absence. He is reported to have incurred huge losses, including that of cash, jewellery and family heirlooms. And three days before this, another professor suffered the same fate, who had already been burgled once earlier.
JNUTA has issued four statements regarding burglary issues. "The security is clueless on the matter. It is a nincompoop security," stated Professor YS Alone. Dr Sucharita Sen, Secretary, JNUTA, said, "When we intimated the administration about the issues initially, we were promised that the Cyclops Security would be removed. I understand that there was a contract in place about the duration of hiring then, but now it is time."
Dr Sucharita informed that Cyclops Security has been in charge of JNU's security since the time of the previous Vice-Chancellor, M Jagadesh Kumar. However, despite multiple thefts, the security has not been dismissed. Asked if the administration has taken any steps regarding this at all, Professor Alone said, "I have no idea what the administration is doing. I cannot see any measures in place."
Similarly, students are questioning the silence of the administration on the issue. "For some strange reason, the JNU administration has made no efforts to console the students or other members of the campus community. The administrator has been completely ineffective in regaining control of the situation," reads a statement by the All India Students' Association (AISA), JNU.
The students also allege that goons entered the campus and vandalised it on November 10, last night. They have put forth three demands:
1. The JNU administration must come out with a statement condemning this violence and informing the JNU community about the initiatives it has taken, if any.
2. JNU administration must initiate wider consultation and discuss the details of the loopholes in the security system with all the stakeholders of the campus and start communicating with JNUTA and JNUSU (JNU Students' Union) representatives.
3. Cyclops must go. The campus had suffered enough from this non-serious, incompetent agency. This agency should immediately be replaced and the process should be initiated in no time.