On July 24, 2017, the foundation stone was laid for a new hostel at Jawaharlal Nehru University. While JNU already had 18 hostels, this was the first of its kind since the university’s inception in 1969 — a hostel specifically designed for students from Northeast India, with an assurance of 75% reservation. However, eight years later, as the first list of occupants was released on April 8, 2025, students were in disbelief as the promised reservation had not been implemented.
Since the project’s inception, the university has tried to foster an atmosphere of inclusivity. The hostel was named after Barak River, a river that flows through the states of Manipur, Mizoram and Assam.
The foundation stone for the hostel was laid on July 24, 2017, by Jitendra Singh, the then Union Minister for Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER). The event was marked by the presence of five Members of Parliament from the Northeast, and Nagaland Governor P.B. Acharya planted a tree at the site to commemorate the occasion. At the time, it was officially announced that the hostel would have 75% reservation for students from the Northeast. The hostel, designed to accommodate 446 students across 228 rooms, was envisioned as a dedicated space for Northeastern students within the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus.
It took 6 years and 7 months for the Rs 28.3 crore NEC-funded construction to complete. Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the project amidst much furore in February 2024 at a Northeast event. The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Kiran Rijiju who was part of the inauguration, posted the event on his X account writing, “A long cherished wish of North-East people have come true. Foundation for North East Cultural & Social Institute was laid & Special Hostel for NE in JNU is inaugurated today.” Towards the end of his Tweet, he extended “heartfelt thanks” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to a document accessed by EastMojo, an MoU was signed between the North Eastern Council Secretariat representative and Professor Bupinder Zutshi, the then Registrar of JNU in February 2016 regarding the construction of a hostel for Northeast students in JNU.
Among other things, the MoU mentions, “JNU will ensure a seat-sharing ratio of 75:25 (NE Students, Non-NE Students) is strictly maintained. On April 8, when the allotment was finalised and the hostel became open for accommodation, headlines splattered in the news such as “JNU inaugurates Barak Hostel primarily for students from Northeastern states” in the Indian Express, and “JNU inaugurates Barak Hostel to promote inclusivity, North-East representation” on Deccan Herald.
However when the first list of student allotment for the hostel specifically for girls pursuing PhD was published, the Northeast student community could trace 8 names from their 8 NE states out of 88 names.
Timeline of Barak Hostel
The Northeast Students Forum (NESF) at Jawaharlal Nehru University traces the origins of the demand for a dedicated hostel for Northeast students back to 2013. It was then that Chief Ministers Mukul Sangma (Meghalaya) and Nabam Tuki (Arunachal Pradesh), along with members of the Northeast Members of Parliament (NEMP) Forum, initiated negotiations with JNU to establish such a facility. The then Joint Commissioner of Police, Robin Hibu, met JNU’s Vice-Chancellor to propose a location for the hostel.
Funding was sought from the North Eastern Council, the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER), and the Ministry of Human Resource Development, supplemented by the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR). From the beginning, the goal was to create a safe and inclusive space for students from the Northeast in Delhi.
Momentum for the project intensified after the 2014 racial attack and murder of Nido Tania, a 19-year-old student from Arunachal Pradesh. This tragedy triggered a wave of political mobilization, including the formation of the Bezbaruah Committee by the Government of India to examine the issues faced by Northeast Indians living in mainland India. The committee’s report explicitly supported the establishment of such hostels.
By 2016, NESF began actively engaging with ministers and university officials. In a 2016 meeting with DoNER, students were assured that the hostel would be funded by the ministry, and consultations were held on how reservations would be structured. Students also raised concerns about reservation policies more broadly and the lack of institutional support.
In 2018, NESF passed a resolution to formally address the lack of infrastructure, scholarships, and academic resources for Northeast students. A general body meeting of the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) later that year criticized the university’s opacity regarding reservation policies and declining representation of Northeast students on campus.
Eventually, on July 24, 2017, Barak Hostel’s foundation stone was laid. However, in a meeting on April 1, 2025, NESF leaders met with Dean of Students Prof. Manuradha Chaudhary, who denied any official commitment to 75% reservation. She cited other hostels funded by central ministries without specific community-based reservations and argued that such a provision would go against JNU’s ethos. Instead, she vaguely promised “unofficial” priority across hostels for Northeast students, with no formal documentation.
On cultural integration, she dismissed the idea of including Northeast cuisine in Barak Hostel’s mess, suggesting students could request such food only if elected as mess secretaries — similar to any regular hostel.
Sidelined by JNU Students Union
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) demanded the quick opening of Barak Hostel. In February, it called a complete university strike, demanding the immediate release of the JNUSU 2024-25 election notifications and the immediate opening of Barak Hostel.
However, officials of the Northeast Students Forum allege that neither the forum nor anybody or representative from the Northeast was consulted regarding these protests.
A second-year master’s student from JNU, who wished to remain anonymous, told EastMojo, “NUSU and political parties within the campus never acknowledge the NESF’s presence. We were never approached nor consulted regarding the Barak Hostel even when they went on a hunger strike for it. We got to know that such things are happening through the parchas and posters they distributed to us as party people come knocking at our doors. They said the foundation was laid and it was opened because of them, saying it was the fruit of their fights yet the NESF had been fighting for it for many years.”
Barak Hostel was never just about accommodation for Northeast students at JNU. According to former and current students who spoke to EastMojo, what they truly needed was a safe space — a place where they could eat their traditional food without enduring judgmental glances or people pinching their noses in discomfort. It was also meant to ease the financial burden for the vast majority of Northeast students, nearly 90% of whom come from low-income backgrounds and cannot afford to rent housing outside the campus.
Dr Lawmzuali, an Assistant Professor at Mizoram Christian College and a former JNU student, was the NESF Co-Convener in 2018 and was present when the foundation stone for Barak Hostel was laid in 2017. She said, “We had high hopes when we learned that the NEC would be funding the project. However, when the construction was completed, the seat allotment still couldn’t be finalized. By that time, the urgency was very high for Northeast students, many of whom were waiting for the allotment list while temporarily residing in PGs or at relatives’ homes. The reality is most of us struggle to survive here, relying on government stipends.”
Further emphasising why the hostel was eagerly awaited by the Northeast students, Nokentemla Longkumer, the present Convener of Northeast Students Forum told EastMojo safety and food were the primary issues.
“We all remember the case of Nido Tania in 2014 — it gained national attention. But the truth is, many such incidents go unnoticed simply because they aren’t as high-profile. In those everyday moments, we do face subtle and direct forms of discrimination. Another important point is that Northeast students often get sidelined. Even in the case of Barak Hostel, our concerns were ignored. When protests began at JNU demanding the opening of Barak Hostel, there was no consultation with Northeast students. And now, there’s an attempt to open it as a regular hostel, disregarding its original purpose. Time and again, our concerns are pushed aside — by fellow students and by the administration, which has also disregarded the MoU it signed promising 75% reservation for Northeast students.”
Another concern she said is the food.
“One of the primary issues is food. Across the campus, there’s little to no representation of Northeast cuisine. We regularly see food from North and South India, but hardly anything from the Northeast. In 2018, when an attempt was made to serve chicken cooked with bamboo shoots, it received a lot of negative backlash — and since then, there hasn’t even been a consideration to include our food. For many of us, this matters. Some students can adapt to the food here, but not everyone can. I’ve heard from several students that they’re forced to get food from outside or look for alternatives, which adds to their financial burden.”
Longkumer also explained how housing tends to be an issue.
“Housing is a major challenge for Northeast students. Finding safe and affordable accommodation near campus is extremely difficult — and even when available, the conditions are often poor and the rent is high. Many of us, including myself, have personally faced these struggles. On top of that, broker charges add to the expense, and some landlords don’t even allow non-vegetarian cooking, which is a problem since non-veg is a staple in many of our diets. That’s why getting a seat in a hostel, where we only need to pay the mess fee, brings a sense of relief. Barak Hostel was meant to address these specific needs, making its original purpose all the more important,” she said.
Regarding hopes for an amendment, Longkumer said the situation does not appear promising. However, she said, there is still hope that the NEC and DoNER will intervene, given that an MoU was officially signed between the NEC and JNU.
Attempts were made to contact the Dean of Students of JNU, this report will be updated if there is a response.
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