Jadavpur University has requested ₹9 lakh per month from the state government to appoint 30 security personnel and two security supervisors for the campus.

A JU official said that apart from setting up CCTV cameras, for which the state has already sanctioned funds, they need to appoint more security personnel.

During a meeting held at the state secretariat Nabanna on October 15, the government was informed about the proposal. The meeting was attended by JU pro vice-chancellor Amitabha Datta and acting registrar Indrajit Banerjee.

The meeting was held following a prod from Calcutta High Court, which is hearing a petition on the alleged absence of security on the campus.

Security on the campus has re-emerged as a concern ever since a section of students detained and harassed education minister Bratya Basu during a visit in early March to attend a teachers’ union programme.

The concerns came back all the more last month when a third-year English honours student drowned in a water body on the campus around 10pm.

“Apart from electronic surveillance, we need to have more trained security personnel to enforce discipline on the campus,” said a JU official.

A senior education department official said they were aware of the safety concerns at JU and “the file has been sent to the finance department” for the necessary approvals.

A JU official said they had approached the department for funds to hire security personnel because the university was going through a funds crunch.

“The necessity of hiring additional security personnel cropped up after a first-year undergraduate student died following ragging at the university’s main hostel in August 2023. But it was not pursued then. After the education minister was assaulted on the campus on March 1 this year and a court petition was filed over the absence of security, the proposal was again taken up and the department was approached,” the JU official said.

Students demanding resumption of the campus polls mounted atop the minister’s car and detained him before the car drove through the students who threw a cordon, injuring a protesting student.

The public interest litigation (PIL) demanded the deployment of security personnel carrying arms on the JU campus.

A JU official said they had sought unarmed security personnel.

“We are expecting a response from the state government on fund allotment once the campus reopens after Puja vacation on October 28,” the official said.

Days after the March 1 incident, Kolkata Police wrote to the JU authorities, seeking space on the campus to set up a police outpost, in deference to a Calcutta High Court order issued in August 2014

“No decision has been taken on this. The university does not have a vice-chancellor now. A full-term VC screened through a Supreme Court search committee is expected to be appointed next week. Only then, the university may decide on setting up the police outpost,” said a JU
official.