Amid Allegations by Student Union, JNU Denies Hindi Imposition in Undergraduate Programmes

New Delhi: Amid allegations that its administration is trying to impose hindi as a subject in the undergraduate programmes, the Jawaharlal Nehru University on Tuesday asserted that it is "unfortunate" that such "misinformation" has been circulated and said that the discussion on the matter has been deferred.

The JNU said such "irresponsible" statements are "undesirable and condemnable" and clarified that the varsity administration has not taken any such decision.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) on Monday had alleged that the varsity was trying to impose Hindi by making it a compulsory subject at the undergraduate BA and B-Tech courses.

The students' body had said one of the agenda items of the the 151st meeting of the academic council on Friday pertains to "making Hindi a compulsory subject at undergraduate level for BA and B-Tech courses".

In a statement, JNU's Registrar Pramod Kumar said it is unfortunate that some students have been spreading misinformation in the media claiming that the JNU administration has imposed Hindi as a compulsory subject in the undergraduate programmes of the University."Such irresponsible statements are undesirable and condemnable. It is to clarify that the JNU administration has not taken any such decision," he said.

The agenda item of the Academic Council (which the JNUSU alleged pertained to imposition of Hindi) was related to a discussion on a letter from the UGC seeking the views of the university on Hindi as a possible course in the undergraduate programmes, he added. "The university has recently conducted a workshop to discuss various issues related to the Draft National Education Policy. Therefore, the discussion on the agenda item in the Academic Council has been deferred.

"It is underlined that JNU has taken no decision to impose Hindi in the Curricula of its undergraduate programmes," Kumar added in the statement. The students' union expressed happiness at the decision and said there needs to be vigilance against "anti-student" policies of the varsity. ​