JNU Students Union today alleged that Dean of School of Social Sciences Prof Pradipta Chowdhary "wrongfully confined" a group of 25 students for boycotting the compulsory attendance. "In a highly condemnable incident today, 25 students of Centre for Economic Studies and Planning of School of Social Sciences were wrongfully confined and forced to sign attendance sheets by Prof Chowdhary," JNUSU President Geeta Kumari said in a statement. Chowdhary did not respond to calls or messages. The incident took place at 2.30 pm in 'Monetary and Banking Institutions' lecture when the students refused to sign the attendance sheet in accordance with the JNUSU's call for boycott of compulsory attendance, the statement said, adding Chowdhary refused to allow students to leave without signing the attendance sheet. In October last year, Chowdhary was appointed as Dean by the Vice Chancellor "superseding five senior professors", one of the moves by the administration that attracted flak from the teachers community. Jawaharlal Nehru University administration has made minimum 75 per cent attendance compulsory for all students. Meanwhile, JNU Teachers Association yesterday announced its decision to boycott administration's order making attendance compulsory for students, saying it was an "unproductive" and "meaningless" form of bureaucratic work for teachers. Early this month, JNU Students Union had too announced its decision to boycott the administration's move.
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