The Hindu : New Delhi News : JNU debate on Nestle outlet not over yet

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 28, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

JNU debate on Nestle outlet not over yet

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JAN. 27. The much awaited University General Body Meeting (UGBM) of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) convened here today to settle the controversial Nestle outlet issue that has kept the student community divided for nearly a year now was a long drawn affair with the meeting running late into the night.

Witnessing a large audience, the UGBM meeting that started in the morning had showed no signs of ending till late in the night, with the debates for and against scrapping the contract with the Nestle outlet only increasing with each new speaker.

A debate that started in April last when some sections of the student community here opposed the move to lease out campus land to an MNC for commercial purposes, the JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) too had seen some differences crop up between its members over the outlets continuity and presence.

A hot topic during the last JNUSU elections, scrapping of the Nestle contract had been one of the primary issues, what with the winning JNUSU panel calling for an open debate on what should be the final fate of the campus.

While student outfits point out that they are not opposed to the presence of MNC products on the campus as students have the right to choose, the idea of the campus land being given at a subsidised rate to a MNC when it could be given to someone "needy'' is what seems to have caused the unrest among the students.

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