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Student Organisations Come Together to Support JNU Protests Against Fee Hike

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Students from different universities came together in support of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to protest against the fee hike. Read on to find out more.

On Thursday, 21st November 2019 students from Delhi University (DU), JNU, and Jamia Milia Islamia (JMI) participated in a protest led by Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) against the hostel fee hike in JNU.

The protest consisted of a march commencing from Mandi House which continued till the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). The demands of the protestors included a complete rollback of the increased hostel fee hike amount, resumption of classes. Apart from this, they also demanded an end to the prevaricating attitude of MHRD with powerful slogans.

Sidharth Yadav, Secretary, ABVP Delhi, said, “We demand a complete rollback of the hiked hostel fee. Today’s protest has only served to fortify our fight for reversion to the earlier fee-structure. In principle, ABVP is against the ongoing series of fee hikes across several educational institutions and would request their respective administrations to refrain from such inexcusable conduct. We chose to organise a separate protest vis-a-vis JNU Students’ Union because of the latter’s unseemly actions wherein they desecrated the University space and damaged public property, in addition to undercutting the momentum and sullying the spirit of the ongoing movement. While they employ profitable victimhood to further their self-serving ends, we choose the openhanded and inclusive approach in our fight for justice.”

According to sources, around 160 people were arrested during the protest taking place at the Parliament street which included 3 handicapped student protestors. Students came in support of JNU in a huge number and didn’t care about the consequences. The protestors chanted slogans like “HRD Minister istifa do (HRD Minister, resign), Fee hike nahi sahenge” (we won’t tolerate fee hike) against the JNU administration and HRD ministry, who according to students is responsible behind this fee hike.

Durgesh Kumar, President, ABVP, JNU, said, “Left-oriented organisations, in an infelicitous act of misrepresentation, misappropriation and crass political expediency, have blunderingly acquiesced to the intervention of HRD Ministry’s High Powered Committee into the ongoing issue. We reject such interposition and push for the uncritical acceptance of all our demands.”

Apart from students, members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and ABVP were also detained after a quarrel between the protestors and the security personnel. The area had protection through triple layers of barricades and Delhi Police was on high alert. Students still managed to climb through the barricades out of rage and ignite a conflict with the security personnel which also involved Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

Manish Jangid, Secretary, ABVP, JNU, said, “While JNUSU has thrown in the towel, we continue to hold out. The manner in which the police authorities stymied our protest was undemocratic. We call for the HRD Minister to either unconditionally comply with our demands or resign forthwith.”

Akshit Dahiya, President, DUSU, said, “DUSU stands in opposition to this undue increase in JNU hostel fee. We stand in unison with all sincere protestors and request the government to put in place a discrete regulatory body to independently judge the necessity as well as delineate the quantum of any fee hikes in future. Our successes against similar fee-hikes in Delhi University is a testament to our commitment and our capability to take this fight to its logical end.”

 

Feature Image Credits: Ashutosh Singh for ABVP

Avni Dhawan

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DUB Speak

Students Burn Effigies in Solidarity with JNU

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The agitation against fee hike at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) reached Delhi University (DU) when progressive student fronts performed protest demonstration and effigy burning at North Campus.

The movement against arbitrary fee hike in JNU has garnered support from educational institutions all across the country. After the inhumane brutality of police forces won, the JNU students protesting became national news, many organisations and bodies joined hands to bestow their support. Most recent in line are the progressive student bodies of Delhi University who conducted a protest march in North Campus on Wednesday which followed effigy burning of Delhi Police, Home Minister Amit Shah and Baba Ramdev, who made spurious comments regarding Periyar, Birsa Munda, Savitribai Phule, and B.R Ambedkar yesterday.

All India Students’ Association (AISA), All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO), Pinjra Tod, Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), Democratic Students’ Union (DSU) and other progressive collectives of DU organised this protest demonstration at Art Faculty from where the protesters circled a part of north campus. Chanting slogans of “Azadi” and “Halla Bol” along with placards condemning Delhi Police and Government Forces, the protesters walked past Campus Law Centre, Law Faculty and came back to Art Faculty where effigies of the were burnt.

“For the last one month, JNU students have been protesting for 999 percent fee hike and the introduction of a new hostel manual which is a step to push people from a deprived background, women, Dalits away from the University,” said Ankur Agraj, a second-year Law student at Campus Law Centre.

On the question of ABVP demanding the formation of a joint struggle committee for fee hike issue the AISA supporter said, “After all, ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) is also a student organization. Their supporters will also be affected by this hike. But the ABVP wing of JNU has displayed a pro VC (Vice Chancellor) stand from the very beginning. It’s important for them to understand that it’s not about Left or Right. The institution comes before your ideology.”

Neel Madhav, a final year Journalism student said, “The time has come to burn all the educational institutions of this country. Because, the government has finally proved that knowledge, merit, academics, and art hold no value in this country. They have made it so evident that family of a king will hold kinship and a poor will rot as a poor coming from marginalized background will remain poor for whole of his life.”

The support came from teachers as well. Laxman Yadav, Professor at Zakir Hussain College addressed the protester after effigy burning. He raised questions about the whereabouts of Najib, who went missing from JNU last year. “Democracy is being assassinated in Kashmir and PM says everything is fine. The way Kashmir is being throttled, education will also be chocked to death,” he expressed.

Narrating a story on why it is important to fight against administrative cruelty, Laxman said, “When there was fire in a forest, the bird tried to control it. On asking why is she doing this when it is obvious that she won’t be able to extinguish it, the bird said that she knows that, but when the history of this forest will be written, they will tell that this bird at least tried to stop the fire.”

For more than 80,000 students in Delhi University, only 4,000 hostels are afforded. The movement at Jawaharlal Nehru University has raised a critical question for the lack of hostel facilities and high fee structure here at Delhi University.

Image Credits: Noihrit Gogoi for DU Beat

Priyanshu

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Campus Central

ABVP Protests Against Construction of 39-Storey Private Building in Campus

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On 11th November 2019, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) organised a protest from the Arts Faculty in the University of Delhi (DU) North Campus, to the Vishwavidyalaya metro station against the construction of a private 39-storey building in the University Campus. 

The protest was joined by members of ABVP and led by Siddharth Yadav, State Secretary, ABVP, and Shivangi Kharwal, Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) Joint Secretary. The protest was led with slogans like, “students’ power, Nations’ power,” and “DMRC hosh mein aao,”.

Siddharth Yadav, State Secretary, ABVP, said to DU Beat, “We were the first ones to raise this issue as an organisation. We attracted attention towards it way back. The land was transferred in 2008 to this private builder by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) by corrupt practices that involved the then government as well. A private residential land on a public complex will not be accepted by the student union. This is one issue where people must unite. This is beyond ideological differences. We are hopeful in the coming days, people would unite.”

 “A building on chhatra marg would be destructive- it would not be chhatra marg anymore. It would be 600 more families, 2500 more cars on campus. This is not what DU looks like. North Campus is prestigious. Most of the buildings are heritage buildings. If we change it today it is going to be a disgrace to all student leaders, to all students across. We are going to attract media houses. After this, DUSU is going to meet the defense ministry, the DMRC, the LG, and the NDFC. So, we are planning for delegations, we are planning to take this issue big,” he added. 

“This is our second protest. This time, DUSU has called all organisations to come forward and join our protest and fight. This issue is an issue concerning all students in the University. Our demand is that this land should be used for the construction of hostels and sport complexes. This land is not for private builders of mafias. ABVP has written a letter to all student organisations and talked to DUTA and DUCU as well,” said Shivangi Kharwal, DUSU Joint Secretary to DU Beat. 

Raja Chaudhary, one of the students who had been leading a protest against the construction of the building since 4th November on the footpath beside the metro station, said, “aap dekh rahe honge yaha pe ABVP ka protest chal raha hai. Mai bas yahi kehna chahunga ki yaha pe tokenism wala protest nahi chalega. (You would be seeing the ABVP protest that is going on right here. All I would like to say is that tokenism would not work here,)”.  He has also guest authored an article regarding the construction of the private building on DU Beat.

This construction has also been opposed by students from colleges like Miranda House, Aryabhatta College, Kirori Mal College, and the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA). DU has also written letters to the President and the PMO regarding the construction of the building.  

Feature Image Credits: Satviki Sanjay for DU Beat

Satviki Sanjay

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Campus Central

ABVP achieves clean sweep, claims 7 of 11 DUSU Executive Councillor Posts

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Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad wins 7 out of the 11 Executive Councillor Posts at the Delhi University Students’ Union Elections, as declared this Tuesday.

 

On Tuesday, 22nd October 2019, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) claimed 7 out of 11 Councillor Posts in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) Executive Committee.

 

ABVP’s Tushar Baisla secured the position of the first councillor with the highest number of votes. The posts of executive councillors went to ABVP’s Vaibhav Chaudhry, Nishulk Kharb, Taranprit Kaur, Suryansh Singh, Ravindra Beniwal and Shubham Chaudhry.

 

In a press release by the ABVP on Tuesday, Sidharth Yadav, State Secretary, ABVP Delhi said, “ABVP’s victory in the Executive Councillor election is a testament to the emergence of a tenacious and proficient cadre of student activists. That ABVP has found its feet as a sincere representative of students’ interests is evidenced by the popular support it enjoys across the entire spectrum of the student community.”

 

In the same press release, Akshit Dahiya, President DUSU, and Pradeep Tanwar, Vice-President DUSU, congratulated the winners and said, “After the victory in the Central Panel and for the posts of Central Councillors, the victory of ABVP in Executive Committee elections certifies the trust of students in us. Vibrant student activism in DU has given leadership not only in politics but also in other fields such as corporate, education, management, science etc. We will work alongside the Central Council and Executive Committee in the interests of the students.”

 

ABVP volunteers held celebrations in Delhi University’s North Campus after the declaration of results. “Executive Committee is democratically an important part of the Delhi University Students’ Union. The structure of the Delhi University Students’ Union differs from other students’ unions due to the affiliation of colleges. Already the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad had a majority in the Central Council and now also has a majority in the Executive Committee. We have already started work on the 5P model that we gave in our manifesto and are trying to do whatever is possible through the student union, We will try to give our best. We thank all the students of Delhi University and the members of DUSU Central Council for this great victory,” Ashutosh, ABVP’s Delhi Media Conveyor, told DU Beat.

 

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad won three seats in the Delhi University Students Union Elections conducted recently.

 

Featured Image Credits- Indian Express

Shreya Juyal

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Admissions

ABVP Protests Against Nepotism in Admissions

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ABVP protests against fraud and nepotism in the admission process of a Ph.D./M.Phil. student and violation of UGC regulations by the Department of Political Science of the University of Delhi (DU).

Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) volunteers gathered at the Faculty of Arts and marched to the Department of Political Science on 18th October, 2019, for the second day of their protest against the administration of Political Science Department for the ongoing corruption, nepotism and violation of University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines in the admission process.

The Department of Political Science has allegedly conducted its Ph.D./ M.Phil. admissions without adherence to UGC regulations and University of Delhi statutes, resulting in favouritism and negligence of merit. ABVP has been protesting since the 17th October, 2019 against the fraud in the admission process in the Ph.D. of this Department, violation of rules and regulations of University Grant Commission, and favouritism in the admission process. According to the Press Release issued by ABVP, a group of Professors, who are ideologically intolerant of liberal ideas, they are denying admission to the meritorious students.

This protest has come after discrepancies in the 2019 admissions. Apparently, on 7th October, the list of the selected candidates was published. However, after two hours, it was removed and a new list was published. The only difference, it no longer had the name of a girl belonging to the Scheduled Castes category. The administration of the Department has not given the reasons for the removal of the name yet. Moreover, only 13 seats out of the 18 available seats were opened for admission.

Ashutosh Singh, State Media In-charge for ABVP, said to DU Beat, “We came to know through the students that the professors tend to give preference to their favourite students in the viva for the entrance exam, neglecting the ones who are also deserving. Last year it came to our notice that even the top ranking students of the entrance exam were not able to get admission after the viva. How is it possible for the top rankers to completely fail in viva?”

ABVP has asked the administration of Political Science Department seven questions regarding the inconsistencies in the admission process and has given the administration an ultimatum to answer their queries by Monday. ABVP claims to also have written letters to the Dean of Political Science Department, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi and Vice President of India for this purpose. Apart from this, the ABVP volunteers have also placed the following demands:

  1. Make admission process to M.Phil./Ph.D. fair and transparent.
  2. The admission process must be centralized and time-bound.
  3. Admission must be conducted in adherence to UGC regulations and the University of Delhi statutes.
  4. All the seats offered by DU prospectus for Ph.D. intake should be fulfilled at the earliest by all the Departments.
  5. The number of seats for the research must be increased.
  6. Social Justice must be implemented in all its constitutional and legal dimensions.
  7. The UGC prescribed 70:30 ratio of written exam to viva-voce must be implemented with all its transparency.
  8. The examination process must be student-friendly and the bureaucratic red-tapism must be curbed.
  9. Steps must be taken to curtail the influence of Teachers’ politics on the admission process.
  10. Address the grievances of those students who have been denied admission on fraudulent grounds.

Siddharth Yadav, State Secretary, ABVP Delhi, said in the Press Release, “Administration of Political Science Department should not think that yesterday we were here only for a symbolic protest, we will continue our protest till the student interests are not secured. Our protest will turn into a revolution if the administration will not listen to our demands.”

 

Featured Image Credits: University of Delhi 

Satviki Sanjay

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Arts Faculty

Faculty of Arts Echoes with Protests for Jadavpur University

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Saturday, 21st September, saw a series of protests concerning the Jadavpur University unrest in West Bengal. On one hand, All India Students’ Association (AISA), Pinjra Tod, and Students’ Federation of India (SFI) protested against the actions of Babul Supriyo and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) supporters at the Jadavpur University. On the other hand, ABVP protested against left terror and condemned the heckling of Supriyo.

On Saturday, 21st September 2019, two protests broke out in the Faculty of Arts, North Campus of the Delhi University (DU). The first protest was organised by Pinjra Tod, AISA, SFI along with other left supporters, condemning the actions of the ABVP supporters and Babul Supriyo at Jadavpur University. In response, a counter-protest was held by members of the ABVP, calling for an end to “Left Terror” and “Red Terror” across the country, condemning the heckling of Supriyo at Jadavpur University.

The left-leaning parties and Pinjra Tod arrived at the Faculty of Arts first. The protest, planned for 12 p.m, began at 12:15 p.m. because the police force present on the venue impeded it. After reconciliation with the police force, the left began their protest surrounded by barricades with slogans like, “ABVP ki gundagardi, nahi chalegi! (Hooliganism by ABVP would not be accepted!)” and “ladenge tumse kadam kadam pe!  (We will fight against injustice every step of the way!)” Outside these barricades, ABVP supporters began their own protest, condemning and to stop leftist and red terrorism, and violence, while chanting, “Desh ke gaddaro ko, goli maaro saalo ko! (We need to kill off the traitors!)”

Following this, the Akshit Dahiya and Shivangi Kharwal, the President and Joint Secretary of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) respectively, addressed the crowd. Thereafter, ABVP proceeded to move closer to the leftist protest and burnt effigies with “Left Terror” and “Red Terror” written on them. When the effigy burning did not faze the leftist parties, the ABVP supporters went closer to barricades and shouted slogans like, “Bharat mata ki Jai! (Long live Mother India!)” and “Left Unity Muradabad! (Go down Left Unity!)” This resulted in the leftist parties and Pinjra Tod to turn to the barricades and chant, “Azadi!”

Sidharth Yadav, Delhi State Secretary of the ABVP, told DU Beat, “The incident is shameful! Does the freedom of expression allow anyone to pull [a] union minister by his hair? Tear a guest’s shirt? Manhandle a woman? Is what left did in Jadhavpur University not mob lynching?  It’s high time we stop our selective outrage and expose such people. The left only believes in violence and this is what they have done in Kerala, bengal, JNU; wherever they are in power. We won’t tolerate this in DU. DU stand with Jadhavpur University and the space of debate and dissent won’t end here.”

While Kawalpreet Kaur, President of AISA, commented, “From JU to DU, wherever there is a strong students’ voice against BJP’s anti-people and anti-student policies, BJP government unleashes an all out attack on campus democracy.” She also added that DU students stood up when ABVP had vandalised a seminar in Ramjas College, and will also stand up against ABVP’s hooliganism across the country.

We contacted members of the SFI and Pinjra Tod for detailed responses, but they were unable to provide a comment on the same.

Feature Image Credits: Gauri Ramchandani for DU Beat

Shreya Juyal

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Delhi Court Refuses Bail to DUSU Ex-President Baisoya

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Ankiv Baisoya, former leader from Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has been refused bail by a Delhi Court. Baisoya was elected as the president of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), shortly after which he tendered his resignations when the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) alleged that he had proffered fake certificates.

Former ABVP leader, Ankiv Baisoya’s bail application in the fake mark sheet case has been dismissed by a Delhi Court. They observed that this “custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the racket of making forged and fabricated mark sheets/degrees”, as reported by the Indian Express.

Baisoya acquired admission under the University of Delhi’s (DU) M.A. program in Buddhist Studies course in July and submitted mark sheets from Tamil Nadu’s Thiruvalluvar University (TU) for B.A. as his qualifying certification. The ABVP leader was elected DUSU president on 13th September 2018. Soon after the polls, the NSUI alleged he had submitted fake certificates, amidst these allegations the TU registrar wrote to the Tamil Nadu Department of Higher Education, stating that Baisoya was neither enrolled in the Varsity nor any of its constituents or affiliated institutions. Hence, Baisoya revoked his Presidency and was dismissed from ABVP. His candidature was taken by Shakti Singh, who remained President for DUSU 2018-19.

As reported by Indian Express, sessions Judge Mohammad Farrukh, in his order, said, “the investigation, in this case, is still going on and the applicant/accused is not cooperating in the investigation and has not disclosed the name of the person from whom the forged and fabricated mark sheet was obtained”. Reeta Sharma, the counsel for Delhi Police, told the court that Baisoya had not joined the investigation in the case, and asked the court to issue non-bailable warrants against him.

On the other hand, Baisoya’s advocates, Zeeshan Hashmi, and Salman Hashmi, revealed that he is busy appearing for another Court Case registered in 2017 where he is accused of entering Daulat Ram College in 2017 and damaging college property during a protest.

DU Beat contacted Mr. Siddharth Yadav, State Secretary, ABVP for a response but but he was unavailable to comment on the same.

Feature Image Credits: The Print

Shreya Juyal
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DUB Speak

Done and Dusted: DUSU Elections 2019

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The declaration of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) results on 13th September ended a month of hooliganism, ruckus, and violation of rules in the name of campaigning.

Every year, the months of August and September witness frenzy and chaos. The roads are littered with flyers and posters, a number of posters with misspelt names of the candidates are pasted on the walls in the Campus area, and rallies pave way for traffic jam. This year too, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won three seats out of four, establishing their majority in the
DUSU.

The voter turnout was recorded at 39.9 percent this year, over four notches down from the last year voter turnout. One of the key points highlighted in this year’s manifestoes of various student political organisations was less wastage of paper. However, candidates contesting DUSU elections clearly violated this rule. The shocking thing here is, that even though the University has a regulatory authority to check these violations, no one comes forward to point these; not even the administration. It is easy to notice all the enthusiasm of the  newly elected office bearers slowly fade away as we inch closer to the end of the year.

I remember, during an interview with Sunny Chillar, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Presidential candidate for DUSU elections, 2018, the demand of a subsidised INR 10 thali (platter) was discussed. The students of the University were assured that no matter what the election results would be, the thali will be provided to them, since, over 70 percent of students are from the economically weaker sections of the society. A common agenda discussed by both the ABVP and the NSUI almost every year is concessional Metro and Delhi Transport Corporation bus passes for the students of the University of Delhi (DU). However, we, as students, are only able to see a few protest marches and letters written to different ministers and the Administration. On questioning about the same to our student leaders, they reply, “It will happen soon.” Will it be soon enough, for the next set of candidates, to put forward the same demand in next year’s manifesto?

In the race of winning the elections, what the student leaders forget is the reason they are running for the position. Is it for fame? Or, is it for representing and working for the student community? Attacks on opponents are not something new in the election season. The sad part here is, that most of the students of the University equate DUSU election season to violence in and around Campus. The manifestoes talk about the safety of students but, in reality, election season makes us, the student community, feel more unsafe than ever.

Did you know that the DUSU also has a constitution of its own? Yes, most of you do not. The official website of the University has a link to the Constitution. It is a 16-page document which roughly has eight chapters that broadly discuss the functioning, funding, and objectives of the Union. The Vice Chancellor of the University is the Patron, and takes all the necessary steps for the smooth  functioningof DUSU in accordance with the DUSU Constitution. The underlying fact is that, even though all this has been defined in the Constitution, our very own elected student leaders fail to abide by it. Or rather, they forget the ideals upon which the Constitution was established. It is sad to see them absent from the important student-related issues but they are present when a Bollywood celebrity visits a college.

Concluding in the words of Srivedant Kar, former Associate Editor of DU Beat, “It’s high time these elections stop referring to things that the Union cannot do and instead start becoming a fight about what the Union can, and should, do.”

Anoushka Sharma 

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JNU Student’s Union Election Results Declared: All Four Seats Won by United Left

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JNUSU (Jawahar Lal Nehru University Students’ Union) results have finally been announced hours after Delhi High Court permitted them to do so.

The results of JNU Student’s Union were announced on 17th September when the Delhi High Court permitted the varsity to declare the results following the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Community. All the four central panel posts have been won by the United Front of Left students group.

The vote-share of United Front of Left student groups All India Students’ Association (AISA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) and All India Students’ Federation (AISF) increased to 50.4 percent from 4 percent in the previous year.

Aishe Ghosh of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) won the post of the president by securing 2,313 votes. Manish Jangid from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) secured 1,128 votes. Ghosh belonging to SFI contested under the broader united Left panel. SFI got the post of the President after 13 years.

The post of Vice President has been won by United Left panel’s Saket Moon who secured 3,365 votes, while Shruti Agnihotri from ABVP came second with 1,335 votes. Satish Yadav from the United Left panel emerged as the winner for the post of General Secretary with 2,518 votes while the post of the Joint Secretary has been won by United Left panel’s Mohammad Danish who secured 3,295 votes.

In the previous year also, all the fours central panel positions were won by candidates of the united Left panel. A victory march was conducted within the University campus by the supporters of the United Left panel after the declaration of results.

JNU Student’s Union polls were conducted on September 6, 2019, with a voter turnout of 67.9 percent which was believed to be the highest in last 7 years. The results were to be declared on September 8, 2019, but were delayed till September 17 after petitions were filed in the Delhi High Court by two students alleging their nominations for the election of councillor in the JNUSU were illegally rejected.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat archives.

Priya Chauhan

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Campaigning: Ways and Waste

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The campaigning for Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) runs throughout August and September every year. However, these campaigns are not eco-friendly in the least, let us see how.

 

The student politics at the University of Delhi (DU) is a microcosm of our country’s political scenario. With examples like Arun Jaitley, former Union Finance Minister who was the DUSU President in 1973, student politicians at DU believe that they can be the ‘leaders of tomorrow’. Unfortunately, these ‘leaders of tomorrow’ are unaware of the amount of waste produced by them during political campaigning.
While walking through the streets of North Campus during campaigning months, one will come face-to-face with pamphlets, flyers, posters, brochures, and press invites littered on the roads. Students with political affiliations throw these posters out of their cars to ‘promote’ their leaders. Colleges like College of Vocational Studies, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, and Sri Venkateswara College in the South Campus, which are affiliated to the DUSU, also bear the brunt of such hooliganism.

During the 2015 DUSU elections, as reported by The Hindu, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued a notice to the Centre, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and the University Grants Commission (UGC) on the huge amount of paper being wasted in campaigning. Similarly in 2017, as reported by Firstpost, in an article titled “In North Campus, Student Bodies kick Swachh Bharat Abhiyan out of the Window”, Delhi High Court and the NGT expressed their shock over the massive misuse of pamphlets, flyers, and posters during the DUSU elections.
Since then, certain walls in the Campus were designated as the ‘Walls of Democracy’ where one was allowed to paste as many election-related posters as they wanted. But, even the 2018 elections saw the brunt of major exploitation of paper to an extent that the then sitting President, Rocky Tuseed, carried out a cleaning drive and removed the posters from near the Vishwavidyalaya metro station.

Despite being condemned over the years for their excessive use of paper in printing pamphlets, brochures, cards, and invites, the DUSU elections continue to be a hub of ecological hazard, producing extensive amounts of paper waste and littering the whole of North Campus by sticking posters on walls and littering flyers on the roads. Chhatra Marg still remains the most affected where a week before elections, we can see posters and pamphlets in every corner and niche.

As decoded by ScoopWhoop Unscripted in their video titled “How to Win a DUSU Election”, “the posters are simple and cheap; you can see it stuck on walls all over Delhi, that’s when you know that the Delhi University Elections are here.” One would believe that posters become a cheap method of promoting a campaign, inviting the masses to events organised by a particular party, and facilitate mobilisation. But, the aforementioned video revealed that INR five to six lakhs are spent in the printing process.
On the other hand, the Lyngdoh Committee, set up in 2006, only allows a small budget of INR 5,000 for campaigning and election-related activities. It also states that only handmade posters are to be used for canvassing and campaigning.

Hence, the huge waste of paper in DUSU elections is not only ethically and morally wrong, but it is also illegal.
Jaishree, a third-year student from Ramjas College pursuing B.A. (Honours) History, stated, “Nothing has changed here in the last three years, the walls are still decorated with multiple posters of the same candidate, underneath it lie decaying posters of yesteryear candidates. The heaps of garbage that the karamchaaris are made to clean every day is alarming. With climate change upon us, you’d really think that candidates would give a damn about the environment, but no.”

Feature Image Credits: Prabhanu Kumar Das

Sakshi Arora

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