JNU has always been in the news for all kinds of political reason. However, amid all the “important” issues, one thing that the JNU activists seem to have missed is the problem of stray dogs in the campus which is worsening day by day. Almost 20 dog bites are reported every month in the 1000-acre campus which has become home for over 800 stray dogs.
The stray dogs and cats are everywhere in the campus. They are found outside hostels, libraries, classrooms, eateries, dhabas, and even convention centres. This has created a problem for the students, especially those who are visually-impaired as the probability of stepping on the dogs for them.
The JNU Visually Challenged Students’ Forum has been inciting protest and awareness campaigns for the last seven years, but no concrete step has been taken till date. Even the JNUSU has not paid attention to their calls. Speaking to inUth, Yogesh Yadav, Convenor of the visually-impaired forum informs us that his M.Phil thesis was delayed because he was bitten by a dog days before the submission.
Though the administration claims to have implemented various sterilisation programmes, no effective result has been witnessed till date.
The Animals Birth Control (ABC) Committee of the campus protested on 28th September and demanded that outsiders should not be allowed to feed the dogs inside the campus. Their demands were to implement the sterilisation programmes, have only two demarcated feeding zones, and put a penalty of Rs 5,000 for violating the feeding norms.
The forum has also been facing serious opposition from professors and students, posing as animal rights activists.
With JNU campus being the centre of turbulence, JNUSU and administration being ignorant, and the “Animal-lovers” opposing the forum, we wonder if the “less significant” demands of the physically challenged students will ever be heard.
