JNUSU writes to varsity admin, asks about delay in setting up on-campus Covid care centre

We believe that the inordinate delay in the setting up of the Covid care centre is against the letter and spirit of the Delhi High Court order..., it said.This is also antithetical to the safety and interest of the university community, and the JNU administration should immediately recourse to the construction of the Covid care centre, and make it operational at the earliest, the JNUSU said.It also claimed that despite rising cases, no Covid testing camp has been held in the university in the recent past.

Citing the surge in coronavirus cases in Delhi, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) has written to the varsity's administration questioning the delay in setting up of a Covid Care centre on the campus.

However, an official of the university, requesting anonymity, said that the Delhi government is yet to provide infrastructural facilities for the centre.

The students' body said that the Delhi High Court had last year directed JNU to set up a Covid care centre, with quarantine and isolation facilities, for the use of the university community. In the latest wave, at least 10 students have tested positive till now for the infection, it claimed. ''However, even as the Omicron variant has led to a rise in cases, after eight months of the high court order, no concrete response has been forthcoming on behalf of the JNU administration,'' the letter read.

''Due to lack of adequate facilities on campus, they (the Covid infected students) have had to be shifted out of the campus. We believe that the inordinate delay in the setting up of the Covid care centre is against the letter and spirit of the Delhi High Court order...,'' it said.

This is also ''antithetical'' to the safety and interest of the university community, and the JNU administration should immediately recourse to the construction of the Covid care centre, and make it operational at the earliest, the JNUSU said.

It also claimed that despite rising cases, no Covid testing camp has been held in the university in the recent past. ''With increasing cases, there is a possibility of nearby testing centres to be exhausted and face shortage of testing kits. Therefore, the university should immediately take steps to have a permanent in-house testing facility,'' the JNUSU said in its letter.

The university official said that though all clearances have been given and there is no problem from the university's end, other things like staff were supposed to be provided by the Delhi government. ''We were only supposed to allot space for it,'' the official said.