Interviews

In interview with Yogit Rathi, the new President of Ramjas college

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The Ramjas student union elections finally took place on the 17th of last month. We caught up with the new president, Mr. Yogit Rathi  to ask a few questions on his big win. A third year student from the history department, Mr. Rathi had won by a landslide victory with a margin of 104 votes with his biggest competitor Anuj Damara landing 421 votes. The rest of the candidates who came third, fourth and fifth were Kapil Choudhary, Mohamed Alam Tyagi and Rishabh Bajpai respectively.

Student elections at Ramjas were scheduled to be held in September but were suspended in the wake of a fight which broke out between two presidential candidates. The Faculty had unanimously decided on suspending the elections till the issue was sorted out. After much consultation and many meetings with the DSW, DUSU office and the Principal, a decision was taken to keep the election date on the 17th of October, 2016.

Following is the interview with Mr. Rathi, as taken right after the results.

Arindam: What made you fight for the college elections this year?

Yogit: Unfortunately I had enrolled in an engineering college right after 12th but since all my friends were in DU and the political atmosphere kind of lured me in so I changed my mind and came here instead. Once here, I actively took part in union politics since my first year. I had made a lot of friends and associates in that time. So when somebody suggested that I should try for the president, I did not hesitate as I believed it would be a good idea and since it was the centennial year, this was my chance to work for the college.

Arindam: Were there any difficulties in winning this year? What was your strategy for this year’s elections?

Yogit: There were a lot of major obstacles and the competition was a tough one, no doubt. The college was facing multiple issues such as the absence of college fests, management problems and other issues faced by the blind students in the library. Another hurdle was when, on the day of scrutiny in early September, a fight broke out between two candidates (names withheld) which led to the elections being suspended for some time. After repeated pleas on our part, the Principal finally agreed to conduct the elections in October.

Arindam: Have you participated in politics before? Also, are you working for any social cause or in college events?

Yogit: I have actively participated in my departmental activities and also worked for college events over the years. I had also tried for the centennial team but unfortunately was not selected.

Arindam: In your manifesto, you have mentioned ‘Technologically advanced tuck shops..to help students meet their basic necessities’. What kind of facilities are you talking about? Can you elaborate on this?

Yogit: If you look around you will notice that our college, in spite of having a photocopy shop, does not have a stationery one, which many colleges have and is a necessity. For various reasons the students have to take printouts, browse the internet and have a basic need of stationery items. The purpose of a ‘Tuck’ shop is to provide all these facilities within campus grounds.

Arindam: Another interesting thing you have mentioned in your agenda is setting up an ‘Analyst Programme’ and ‘introducing a new software’. Can you explain further?

Yogit: This was an idea that came up amidst all the centennial fervor. The idea was, to create a link between the Ramjas college library and the university library which would be further connected to all the central universities in the country. I realise it is a big dream to have and would need  lot of work but it is not impossible. The principal has promised to consider this proposition once the centennial celebrations are over.

Arindam: That is a big project. Good luck with that! Now for my last question. You have made a lot of promises and it seems with the centennial celebrations and faculty and staff working around the clock, you might fall short of adequate resources or time, to deliver on your word. How, if this comes to be, are you planning to tackle this?

Yogit: The centennial team has a lot of students to handle with organising the celebrations but I believe for our goals to be reached we have all the resources we need. It would take time but I plan to involve all the class representatives (CRs) from ach department, to make it a more unified effort. If each department chips in, fulfilling all the agendas will be no hard task!

Image credits: Mr. Yogit Rathi

Arindam Goswami

[email protected]

Currently in my third year, studying Political Science major at Ramjas College. I love chicken and books and sleeping. If you want to talk, feel free to drop me a mail at [email protected] or you can reach me through Facebook, Arindam Goswami. Kudos!

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