Nazmul Hasan Siyam, JU:
After 32 years of dormancy, the Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) has finally been revitalized. However, the move has unearthed a staggering financial discrepancy: while the university administration continued to collect fees from students and allocate annual budgets in JUCSU’s name for over three decades, the union’s treasury currently stands at zero.
University records and data analysis indicate that approximately Tk 1 crore (10 million BDT) should have been accumulated. Yet, the newly formed committee has discovered that there are no specific accounts or records detailing how this money was spent, sparking intense resentment among student leaders and the general student body.
A Paper Trail of Collection
Records from the university’s accounts wing show a systematic collection of fees since the suspension of JUCSU activities in 1993. Between the 1992-93 and 2000-01 academic years, undergraduate students paid Tk 45 each, totaling Tk 7,27,830. From 2001 to 2024, the fee was increased to Tk 60, bringing in another Tk 50,89,560. For the current 2024-25 session, 1,844 enrolled students paid Tk 70 each.
Furthermore, data from the Master’s programs shows a collection of Tk 7,24,350 from over 24,000 students. When combined with the university’s annual budget allocations—which remained at Tk 1 lakh in recent years and is proposed to rise to Tk 10 lakh for 2025-26—the total missing sum exceeds Tk 1 crore.
“No Records, No Money”
The current JUCSU Assistant General Secretary (AGS), Ferdous Al Hasan, expressed his frustration over the lack of transparency. “It is truly shameful. While other universities maintained their student union funds even during periods of inactivity, JU has no record of where three decades of student money went,” he said. He noted that the university’s accounts branch confirmed that the official JAKSU account (No. 3701) has remained inactive for years with no balance.
University Treasurer Professor Abdur Rab admitted the lapse, stating, “JUCSU has no old account. A new account has been opened recently with a few lakh taka sourced from a university fund, but I cannot provide a specific explanation for where the previous crore went.”
Administrative Defense and Student Outrage
University Comptroller Mosanul Kabir offered a defense for the missing funds, claiming the fees were nominal. “Back then, the fee was Tk 15. Today, even a ‘Singara’ costs Tk 10. That money was spent on various co-curricular activities and hall food quality,” he claimed. However, he was unable to provide a detailed year-by-year breakdown of these expenditures.
Student leaders argue that because there was no student representation in the Senate for 32 years, the administration spent the money arbitrarily. AGS Ferdous Al Hasan added, “The administration assumed JUCSU would never be formed again, which led to this illegal spending of student union funds on other sectors.”
The JUCSU committee has now formally demanded that the administration return all previously collected funds to the student union’s treasury immediately. The Treasurer has reportedly assured them that the matter will be addressed soon, though the lack of documentation remains a significant hurdle.
