Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

About College:

The Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi has one of the largest campuses in India among all kinds of universities. This campus is also renowned for its green cover and flowering plants. It was founded in 1969 by an act of parliament. This university is renowned for its academics, research and other campus activities. This has led to extremely prestigious rankings such as the rank 3 achieved in 2016 and rank 2 in 2017 as part of the NIRF (National Institutional Rankings Framework). JLU also won the Visitor’s award for the best university from the President of India in 2017. 

The academics at JNU is divided into several schools and special centres. There are schools for – Arts & Aesthetics, Biotechnology, Engineering, Life Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Social Sciences, Physical Sciences, Sanskrit & Indic Studies, Computer & Systems Studies and Computational & Integrative Sciences. There is a Centre for the Study of Law and Governance. Special centres exist for – Disaster Research, Molecular Medicine, Nanoscience, National Security Studies, Study of North- East India and E-Learning. The School of     International Studies, in fact, predates the university itself, having been formed prior, but got merged post the formation of the JNU. This school has several centres within it. This includes centres for – East Asian Studies, International Legal Studies, South Asian Studies, West Asian Studies, European Studies, International Trade & Development and Comparative Politics & Political Theory. Beyond the schools and special centres that operate within the JNU campus, there also exist several colleges that exist outside, but which are affiliated to the JNU. The list includes some defence and some research and development institutions. Prominent examples include, the Army Cadet College in Dehradun, National Defence Academy in Pune, College of Military Engineering also in Pune, Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) in Lucknow, Raman Research Institute (RRI) in Bengaluru, Institute of Microbial Technology (IMT) in Chandigarh and the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) in Thiruvananthapuram among others. 

The schools and special centres mentioned further take care of multiple academic streams. At the undergrad level, for example, languages are a popular way of entry to JNU. Some language courses run here include Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Russian and Spanish. JNU is particularly renowned from the master’s level onwards. Some of the popular courses were MA or MSc. Is possible include Economics, English, Geography, Arabic, Ancient History, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Linguistics, Persian, Philosophy, Political Science, Russian, Sanskrit, Sociology, Spanish, Urdu, Physics, Life Sciences and Environmental Sciences. There are short-term diploma as well as doctoral courses available here. Special provisions exist for international students to enrol here. 

The JNU campus is among the best digitized within the country. Its library is so well aligned to digital networks that students sitting here or from their hostels can get access to wide variety of academic output produced worldwide. The campus is also mapped using the latest GIS technique. This especially helps NRIs or foreigners take decisions on admissions as they can get full bird’s- eye view of the university. Getting admission though isn’t the easiest thing here, considering the vast competition for such a prestigious institute. Past academics also matter a lot here. A unique aspect about JNU is the presence of statutory bodies here. One such is the University Court. The Executive Council, Academic Council and the Finance Committee are the other three. 

Some of the most famous names from different walks of life have studied from JNU in the past. This includes political top shots from India, Nepal, Libya, Vietnam and other countries. Several top scientists, as well as government leaders, have studied from here. Faculty at JNU are equally well- known. Several of them are winners of the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar prize. Due to the size of the university, and the corresponding width of operations, the JNU admin needs to be extremely careful about several of the processes. There is a dedicated Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) and one Controller of Examination. 

Student life here is particularly dynamic thanks in large part to the enormous campus and the outdoor spaces. This enables ample sporting opportunities. The students’ union is also quite proactive in facilitating different functions. There is a strict anti-ragging policy in place. Different fellowships are available for meritorious or economically weaker students to pursue their studies here. The campus’s facilities are generally quite inexpensive to allow all forms of inclusion. The students at JNU have also been at the forefront of several social movements such as the Rainbow Walk in 2015 in solidarity with the LGBTQ community. A special association also exists for the international students, who are aplenty here anyway. There are several clubs and committees here. The clubs are named – Dance, Debating, Literary, Film, Fine Arts, Music, Theatre, Nature & Wildlife and Photography. Several nationwide events are held each year including Meraki, Jugalbandi, and Virasat. Regular Spic Macay chapters are also held here.