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National Students’ Union of India launches Manifesto

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The NSUI made a public declaration of policy and aims, especially one issued before an election by a political party or candidate on the 27th of August. Here’s all you need about their goals and promises.

On Monday, 27th August 2018, The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) announced it’s manifesto with respect to the 2018 Delhi University Students’ Unions (DUSU) Elections. At the NSUI Office near Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi, a panel of NSUI student leaders stood before a room packed with journalists and photographers, as they announced their goals and promises for the upcoming year, should NSUI win.

Ruchi Gupta, Joint Secretary, NSUI began by stating the core principles of NSUI; progress, freedom, diversity and empowerment. She emphasized five primary objectives, namely – 

  • Demand for Institute of Eminence status for University of Delhi.

Owing to the substandard global rankings of even the best Indian academic institutions, the government decided that three private and three public universities will be declared as Institutes of Eminence. These Institutions of Eminence would be given significant autonomy in operations — from setting their curriculum and recruiting foreign faculty to entering academic tie-ups. The selected government institutions would also be given up to ?1,000 crore over five years to help them become world-class. The ultimate objective is for these Institutions of Eminence to acquire global standing in a few years.

The NSUI raised objections over UGC’s rejection of DU as an institute of eminence, and even brought up the controversy of DU being Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged alma-mater. They emphasised of the controversy of Jio Institute being names as an Institute of Eminence, but the central government has already addressed it, saying Jio comes under the ‘greenfield’ category- the status will only be given on evaluation of performance after three years.

  • A campaign to identify 100 young women leaders in DU, to be mentored by former Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms Sheila Dixit.

The Pehli-Pidi programme focuses on first generation college students, under which 100 women will be identified and trained.This is an extension of NSUI’s vision to inculcate women into leadership roles, that they have previously worked upon by releasing a Women’s Manifesto ahead of Elections and by enabling the installment of Sanitary Pad Vending Machines in 32 DU Colleges.

  • Demand for subsidized Meal Thali for Rs. 10/- each.

They highlighted that over 70% of students are from economically weaker sections of society, and claimed that since IITs and IIMs provide subsidized food to their students, it would only be fair for DU students to expectthe same.

  • Concessional Student passes in Delhi Metro and DTC Buses.

Bringing light to the metro rail concessions available to students in Kolkata, the panel highlighted why a similar concession is important to DU students. Mentioning a well known incident where NSUI members jumped on metro tracks as protest, the members claimed that NSUI has been successful putting a break to metro fare hikes till 2020.

  • Demand for distribution of free laptops among DU students.

This demand has infamously been opposed by the CBCS in the past, and the panel was vague regarding the logistics of implementation and funding of this idea.

Fairoz Khan, National President NSUI took the floor to highlight NSUI’s achievements in the previous year. He talked about 24*7 library services for students brought about, installation of sanitary pad Vending Machines in 32 colleges and the launch of D-Youth, the first ever DU magazine, which was infamously interrupted by several ABVP members.

The panel claimed that the entry of CYSS into the 2018 elections was with the underlying agenda of dividing up anti-ABVP votes and bring down the gap in the ratio of votes. The panel also expressed grievances regarding the paucity of campaigning time available to them, which leads to confusion, uncertainty and mistrust among young voters. They also addressed the low voting turnout, and claimed the underlying reason for the same is mere 4 hours voting time provided to colleges with strengths of 3000+ students, a majority of which are first time EVM users.

Budget cuts, lack of transparency,  poor infrastructure for differently-abled, discriminatory hostel timings for women, women’s safety and security were a few miscellaneous issues brought forward by the panel.

The modus operandi of NSUI for 2018-19 is fairly promising and inclusive of the welfare of all DU students.
Feature Image Credits –  Adithya Khanna for DU Beat

Nikita Bhatia 

thenikitabhatia@gmail.com

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A Tussle between the ABVP and NSUI over the Installation of Sanitary Napkin Vending Machines

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A senior leader of the ABVP and DUSU Secretary Mahamedhaa Nagar accuses DUSU Vice-President and member of the NSUI Kunal Sehrawat of stealing credit in what appears to be a tussle over the installation of sanitary napkin vending machines in DU colleges.

In a recent move by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and National Student’s Union of India(NSUI)-led Delhi University Student’s Union (DUSU), 56 colleges of the University of Delhi (DU) have received sanitary napkin vending machines. Each of these machines can store up to 25 napkins and can be accessed by the students.

The journey of installing these machines in all of these colleges began on the 22nd of January 2018 when Mahamedhaa Nagar, Secretary of DUSU, had organised a women’s marathon in association with the Sky Touch Foundation. The aim of the marathon was to question the tax imposed on sanitary napkins and the stigma surrounding menstruation. The marathon was flagged off by Akshay Kumar who was invited as the Chief Guest of the event. He was there to promote his movie ‘PadMan’ which spoke on the same issue. On the same day, Mahamedhaa had made the announcement of setting up sanitary napkin vending machines in all colleges affiliated to DU. Akshay Kumar and the two ABVP members occupying the DUSU had also launched 10 sanitary napkin vending machines on the same day.

Mahamedhaa wrote a letter to the Vice Chancellor of DU on the 15th of January 2018 regarding her announcement. He had welcomed the move and had also circulated the letter to all DU college Principals to take necessary steps.

Mahameda Nagar's Letter

Image Credits: Mahamedhaa Nagar, Secretary of DUSU

But, in a recent letter signed by the Assistant Registrar of DU, DUSU’s Vice President Kunal Sehrawat has also been given permission to set up sanitary napkin vending machines in the premises of WUS Health Centre and the Utility Centre, both of which are situated in the North Campus of DU.

Kunal's Letter

Image Credits: Kunal Sehrawat, Vice President of DUSU

In a conversation with DU Beat, Sehrawat said, “As per the research and data procured, we have found that 60% of the total students across DU are females. Also, 15 colleges are solely for girls. In addition to that, we also have females including teachers and administration staff. Our main aim of launching and installing sanitary napkin vending machines are affordability, to eradicate social taboo associated with it, easy accessibility and spreading awareness among the youth.”

To resolve this confusion, DU Beat contacted Mahamedhaa Nagar. She informed the DU Beat correspondent that she had written a letter to the VC for the installation of the machines in DU colleges in January. The VC had replied back in March by welcoming the initiative. However, by then, she had already contacted the Principals of various DU colleges and installed the sanitary napkin vending machines in 20 to 25 colleges. Nagar also informed that they have offered a year’s free maintenance of the machines installed in the DU colleges. She mentioned, “Before starting the process of installation, I did a small survey. I approached the Principals of different colleges and asked what features they are looking for in a sanitary napkin vending machine. I found, for instance, that Hindu College already had a vending machine, but the problem was the quality of sanitary napkins the machine provided.” She had also sent out a proposal to the Ministry of Women and Child Development to help her with the setting up of machines. The CSR Research Foundation had helped Mahamedhaa in getting the sponsors for the sanitary napkin vending machines. By now she has installed such machines in 56 colleges and 8 schools.

When Kunal Sehrawat was asked to comment on the same, he said, “Who gets the credit really doesn’t matter to me. All that matters is that some work should happen for a noble cause. The students and the society should benefit from the same.”

 

Feature Image Credits: The Hindustan Times

Anoushka Sharma

anoushkas@dubeat.com

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NSUI Alleges ABVP Involvement in Cancellation of Magazine Launch

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NSUI alleges that their magazine launch, which was slotted to be held earlier today, was cancelled due to ABVP involvement.

A magazine launch event organised by the NSUI-led DUSU which was to be held in the University Conference Center on 31st July, 2018 was abruptly cancelled and the organizing students were barred from entering the University Campus. The National Student’s Union of India (NSUI) alleged the involvement of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the cancellation and refused to budge, despite barricades being put in front of the Dean’s office by the police.

The event which was supposed to be attended by University of Delhi (DU) Professor of Hindi, Dr. Apoorvanand Jha, the founding Editor of The Wire, Siddharth Vardarajan and Member of Parliament (MP) Rajeev Gowda, was supposed to be on Freedom of Speech and Expression.

In a dramatic turn of events, the NSUI and the invited guests decided to launch the magazine in front of the police barricades under protest. The guests also delivered short speeches on the freedom of speech and expression while claiming that the spaces for creative freedom were increasingly lessening in the country.

Allegations of interference  

PicsArt_07-31-10.40.33
Rishabh Gogoi for DU Beat

The event was initially supposed to launch the first ever student magazine of DU named DYouth. The magazine which featured various articles by students of DU as well on-record interviews given by people like P. Chindambaram, Subramaniam Swamy, Yogendra Yadav, Sheila Dixit, Prashant Bhushan, Sunita Narain and Karan Thapar among others, was edited by a team of editors from the colleges of DU.

Ruchi Gupta, the NSUI’s National-in-charge, while speaking to DU Beat, claimed that the NSUI had obtained prior permission to launch the magazine in the Conference Center. “This permission has been cancelled at the last minute at the behest of a complaint by ABVP goons who are only able to understand the language of guns. They bring guns inside DUSU office and NSUI will not be allowed to launch a magazine.” she added. Ms. Gupta and several other members of the NSUI publicly condemned the cancellation after the magazine was launched under protest in front of the Dean’s office.

DU Beat spoke to several sources in the organising team of the event and they all alleged that the ABVP was putting pressure on the administration to cancel the event at the last moment. However, another source on the condition of anonymity, said that things were “too quiet for the ABVP to be involved.”  

AISA’s Kawalpreet Kaur, who was also present, extended support to the NSUI in a public speech claiming that she was upset as a student of the University because of the condition of politics in the campus. “We remember last year when there was a programme held by RSS here in the presence of Subramaniam Swamy and the ABVP waved saffron flags here inside the campus, indulging in hooliganism. We didn’t throw stones at them at that time.  Neither did we cancel that programme. We agreed that there should be dialogue within this University. We still remember the episode at Ramjas college where the teachers were brutally attacked by the ABVP. And today, at the eleventh hour, the launch of a magazine by NSUI, which should be a cause for celebration for every student, has been cancelled and bizarre arguments have been put forward in support,” Ms. Kaur added.

Perturbed dignitaries

NSUI led magazine launch
Rishabh Gogoi for DU Beat

 

The three dignitaries invited strongly criticised the sudden cancellation of the event. Mr. Vardarajan, speaking to DU Beat said, “I think it is very unfortunate that the DU administration did not allow this programme to happen. The irony is that we were going to discuss freedom of expression. And our own freedom of expression has been compromised in this way.”

When asked what he thought about the allegations of ABVP’s involvement in the same, he added, “I don’t know the facts because I am not from here. But the ABVP across the country has been well known to object to all acts of democratic expression that they don’t agree with. I was myself a victim of ABVP intolerance at Allahabad University when they wouldn’t let me speak. So if this has happened in Delhi University, it’s quite believable.”

DU Beat also asked Mr. Jha about the allegations of ABVP meddling in the cancellation of the event. While Mr. Jha denied knowing why the event was cancelled, he also added, “I can say from my experience that University spaces are being made inaccessible to people for open discussion and that is, in a way, dismantling this University. A simple release function is now being forced to be seen as protest, which is very telling.”

Rajeev Gowda, a professor of IIM-Banglore, claimed that the clamp down on NSUI’s launch was a symptom of events across the country. He attacked the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for all the instances under them where freedom of expression has been threatened claiming, “In a few miles away from where Prime Minister Modi rules the country, you are able to see that freedom of expression has no meaning but there are still people willing to stand up and fight for the fundamental right that we have enshrined in the Constitution.”

The other side of the story

PicsArt_07-31-10.41.34
Rishabh Gogoi for DU Beat

DU Beat spoke with several policemen on the scene who were all unwilling to answer our questions. They directed us towards the people in charge, including the Deputy Proctor, Dr. Anupam Jha. On speaking to DU Beat, Dr. Jha claimed that the NSUI was misleading the people and that proper permission for the event had not been taken. “We are just abiding by the High Court’s orders which have upheld the decision to disqualify Rocky Tuseed’s candidature as DUSU President,” he added. Mr. Tuseed’s candidature had been revoked by the Delhi High Court previously due to his inability to release the details of the disciplinary action taken against him during his undergraduate study.

In an attempt to know more, DU Beat also contacted Mahamedha Nagar, the secretary of DUSU, who denied allegations of ABVP’s interference. “Why should we allow a magazine which has been just spearheaded by a Vice-President or a Joint Secretary, under the banner of DUSU? Was the money that was used for the magazine, in the name of DUSU, only the right of a President, and that too, a President who is no more a President? There is nothing about DUSU in the magazine. No suggestions were taken. I don’t think it makes sense to launch such a magazine under any venue of DU.”

While both NSUI and AISA have issued several official statements condemning the ABVP for their alleged involvement, it remains to be seen where the discussion on freedom of speech and expression takes us.

Feature Image Credits: Rishabh Gogoi for DU Beat

Sara Sohail

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NSUI Alleges Appalling Infrastructure at DSJ, Deems it Unfit for New Courses

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The state of infrastructure at the year-old Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) has been a cause of concern for the students studying there.

In response, Mohammad Ali, State Media Coordinator of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and a student of DSJ has come out with a press release describing the worsening condition of the facilities in the institute. The press release describes the low library capacity of 10-15 students, the lack of access to sports grounds by the sports quota students, as well as the administration’s bid to take away the laptops given to students. The press release mentions that these, among others, seem to be grounds enough for not starting an M.Phil and Ph.D. the programme at the institute.

The Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) which was started last year, came up with a recent announcement to start MPhil and Ph.D. level courses by 2020. Currently, the college offers a five-year integrated journalism course that is entrance-based. It also offers an exit option for students who wish to pursue professional work after three years whereupon they would be given a Bachelor’s Degree. According to a recent report at The Asian Age, the college also plans to introduce short-term courses in photography, video editing, documentary filmmaking, sports, and science journalism by October this year. But, the press release by the NSUI is bound to put a question to such grand-laid plans.

When DU Beat asked Mohammad Ali if the students have ever conveyed their grievances to the administration he said, “We have had a lot of talks with the administration. We even submitted our complaints to the Director in writing, but it has been three to four months and we have seen no change. All we hear are false promises of the fulfillment of our demands.”

According to an anonymous source at the DSJ, the students who were given laptops at the beginning of the first semester for their journalistic assignments were asked to return the laptops at the end of their second semester. “They refused to even issue admit cards to us if we didn’t return the laptops. Not every student can afford to own a laptop and even less so when there are no computer facilities at the institute. In such a scenario, I don’t know how they will manage to open M. Phil and Ph.D. courses,” the source said.

Prashant Yadav, another student of DSJ said, “The press release points correctly to our problems. In the name of self-financing, we have been asked to give fees for everything from desks to chairs. The media lab that is going to be essential for our future curriculum has still not been set up. We do not have any permanent faculty and even those who teach us are not qualified enough to do so. While the campus gets closed at 4:30 pm for us, the students at Cluster Innovation Centre can access it till 7 p.m. As far as the laptops are concerned, I think the DU might reissue the laptops for us in the third semester. However, it is true that we were given no prior intimation before they gave us our laptops.”

Manaswini Yogi, the Officer on Special Duty at DSJ remained unavailable for any comments. However, the last time DU Beat spoke to Prof. Yogi she assured the DU Beat correspondent that the Media Lab will be established by the time curriculum reaches the point where the use of Media Lab becomes necessary.
Feature Image Credits: DU Beat
Sara Sohail
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NSUI President Accused of Seeking Sexual Favours for Political Post

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A former worker of the Indian National Congress’ student wing purportedly sent a letter to the media containing WhatsApp conversations between Fairoz Khan and others. Sexual harassment charges have been levied against the National President of NSUI, (National Students’ Union of India). Khan has categorically rejected all the charges labeling them as ‘politically motivated’ and ‘baseless’.

The woman, who is an office bearer and former probationary national office bearer from Chhattisgarh, has alleged that NSUI President Fairoz Khan has been sexually harassing young women in lieu of political appointments. The allegations came to light late Sunday night after rumoured WhatsApp conversations between another woman and Fairoz, were released to the media.

NSUI has taken suo motu cognizance of sexual harassment allegations made against its National President Fairoz Khan.

Through a telephonic conversation, Ruchi Gupta, National In charge of NSUI informed DU Beat that they haven’t received any formal complaint from the girl yet. “NSUI has set up a AICC committee to investigate the matter. Deepender Hooda is a part of the investigating committee.”

“The NSUI and Rahul Gandhi should take cognizance of this serious allegation but Fairoz is openly attending NSUI meetings,” told Saket Bahugana, the National Media Convener of ABVP to DU Beat.

Kawalpreet Kaur, DU AISA head, reckoned that the matter is absolutely shameful and the inquiry can’t be fair unless the accused is not suspended from his post.

The report will be subsequently updated with the further flow of information on the matter.

 

Sandeep Samal
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National Students’ Union of India Launches Fellowship on Public Policy “Future of India”

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The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) has announced the launch of a fellowship on public policy, the “Future of India”, which would start in June.

A press statement dated 2nd of May 2018, by current in-charge of NSUI, Ruchi Gupta, who is also the Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, announced the launch of this new initiative by NSUI. The fellowship is open to all students and young professionals under the age of 30, the statement said.

When asked about the manifestations of this four-week fellowship, Ruchi Gupta said, “The fellows will get an opportunity to interact with thinkers and practitioners such as P. Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid, Sam Pitroda, Jairam Ramesh, Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot among others.”

The DU Beat correspondent was informed by the members of the NSUI that the applications for the course would be open from 1st May 2018, and shortlisted candidates will be informed before 31st May 2018. The course is scheduled to be held from 11th June to 6th July 2018, in Delhi. They told DU Beat that interested students can apply for the fellowship through the official website of the NSUI.

According to the sources, some of the topics to be covered during the fellowship include public administration and management, bridging the “Bharat vs. India” divide, the legal system, the role of the state (in ensuring equality), the fundamentals of democratic countries, conflict management in a democracy, electoral management, and power politics.”

The fellowship is aimed towards providing the youth not just an overview of the key policy challenges facing our country but also the tools to deconstruct, analyse and understand the politics behind the policies.

The fellowship, whose course will combine theory with field visits and practical assignments, will focus on developing an understanding of the political considerations and the implications of different policy choices to build a new generation of liberal and democratic young leaders across India.

Feauture Image Credits: The Asian Page

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak

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NSUI took out March to Speak Out about Crime Against Women

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Yesterday, an Asmita march was taken out by NSUI to speak out against the recent cases of crime against women and to demand greater safety for women in the varsity.

NSUI took out a march from the Faculty of Arts, University of Delhi (DU) yesterday. The protest aimed to speak out against the rising crime against women. The recent Asifa and Unnao rape cases and the subsequent silence around them compelled them to take out a march, claimed members. Slogans like “Chatron ke sammaan mein, NSUI maidan mein (NSUI is out to protect the rights of students” were raised at the march.
Present at the march were DUSU President and Vice President Rocky Tuseed and  Kunal Sehrawat respectively. NSUI National President, Fairoz Khan was also present along with Deepender Singh Hooda, Member of Parliament. However, the protest was not confined to the Asifa and Unnao cases. The safety of women around campus and the need to implement ICC laws across the University were talked about.

Apart from the implementation of ICC laws, the march demanded installation of CCTV cameras outside girl’s colleges and demanded that a female constable be present outside all colleges to curb stalking and eve teasing. After the march reached the faculty of arts again, a small delegation from NSUI including the Rocky Tusseed, Kunal Sehrawat, Akshay Lakha, and Fairoz Khan met Dean Students’ Welfare, Professor Rajesh Tandon. The delegation presented a memorandum that put forth all the demands raised by the marching body. a detailed discussion on the failure of the administration to make the campus a safer place for women also took place. Fairoz Khan while talking to Professor Tandon expressed his plight at the state of the well-being of women in the Varsity by saying “If DU cannot lead the country, if we the leading institution in the country cannot set an example and be a role model, then it is a shame.” The demand for self-defence classes to be held across the varsity was also put up. The delegation rationed that they had promised the student body of DU CCTV cameras and a safer and secure campus and that they are obligated to ensure that these demands are met.

Approximately 350 students were present at the march; however, women constituted a small fraction of the same. The protest which lasted around two hours remained peaceful and non-disruptive. Heavy deployment of police officials across the campus ensured that the march was carried out smoothly. NSUI leaders claimed that they would take out another march on the same scale, within 10 days, if their requests were ignored by the administration.

Kinjal Pandey

kinjalp@dubeat.com

Feature Image Credits – Pinjra Tod

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NSUI Burns ABVP’s Effigy in a Protest Against CBSE Paper Leak

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The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSC) came under condemnation after its Class X Mathematics and Class XII Economics papers were leaked last week. Four students of different schools and two directors of a private coaching center were apprehended in connection with the CBSE question paper leaks.

This had triggered protests from different quarters of the student community. On Saturday, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) staged a protest outside the ITO office of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). NSUI alleged that the office-bearers of the right-wing students’ organisation were caught leaking CBSE exam papers in Jharkhand.

Rocky Tuseed, President of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), in conversation with DU Beat, remarked, “This is an instance of gross injustice meted out to the students. 28 lakh students had given the 12th standard Economics paper. Due to the negligence of the CBSE, why is the future of students staked at risk?”
When asked who is to be blamed for the paper leak, Tuseed observed, “This is not an isolated incident. The government is also involved in this.”

Pragya Tomar, the General Secretary of the NSUI (Delhi State), told DU Beat, “We demand that an inquiry into the CBSE paper leak should be conducted and that the government should ensure a leak-proof mechanism to prevent such anomalies in future.”

Fairoz Khan, the National President of the NSUI, who met Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Ministry of Human Resource Development, said that the Minister has assured that they would investigate the matter and take the strictest possible action against those responsible.

In the letter written to Prakash Javadekar, the DUSU President has noted, “We request you to roll back the examination of Economics (class XII) and Maths (class X) as no student is ready to give their re-examinations.”

Notably, the CBSE had announced a retest of the two papers, following reports of the leakage.

Responding to allegations that an office-bearer of the ABVP was involved in the paper leak, Saket Bahuguna, the National Media Convener of the ABVP said, “He (the accused) has no current association with ABVP.”  He further assured that the accused in the case was shown the door by the ABVP as soon as he joined a coaching institution as a co-owner. The ABVP termed the NSUI’s protests as an attempt to defame it. “Systemic reforms in the examination patterns and procedures are needed. How is it that papers get leaked, but no structural changes are undertaken to stop any future leaks?,” questioned Saket Bahuguna.

Feature Image Credits: National Students’ Union of India
Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak
vaibhavis@dubeat.com

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AISA and NSUI Join Protest against Alleged Leak of SSC Exam Papers

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The ongoing protest against the leaked SSC papers has now been joined by student political units AISA and NSUI.  

In a development considered ‘supportive’ by observers, leaders of the political units AISA (All India Student’s Association) and NSUI (National Student’s Association of India) joined the students protesting against the alleged leak of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) exam papers, on 16th March 2018.

The indefinite protest over the examination, which was conducted in February, has witnessed hundreds of aspirants protesting in the CGO complex, which houses the SSC headquarters. Since February 27, they have been demanding a time-bound CBI probe under the supervision of the Supreme Court into all SSC exams and the commission’s functioning. Secondly, they are demanding a stay order on all SSC exams until completion of CBI inquiry into the matter.

Responding to queries from the DU Beat correspondent, DUSU President Rocky Tuseed, who was present with the protesting students on Friday said, “We demand the suspension of SSC Chairman Ashim Khurana, and the resignation of Minister Jitendra Singh. The fight is not only against the isolated incident of leaked papers. Besides this, the SSC has delayed the joining of candidates who qualified two years ago. These anomalies speak volumes about the incompetence of the board and the government. ”

Speaking along similar lines with the DU Beat correspondent, President of AISA (DU) Kawalpreet Kaur, who was also present on the site of protest, remarked, “The students are not only demanding a CBI probe into this particular incident. They are linking this protest to a larger struggle against the numerous recruitment scams which are happening.”

When the correspondent mentioned the political mudslinging revolving this issue, Kaur stated, “Somebody has to take responsibility. It has been 15-18 days that the students have been sitting here. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said that a CBI enquiry has been ordered. But the students are not satisfied because nothing is progressing.”

In a phone call conversation with this correspondent, Vice President of DUSU Kunal Sehrawat, said, “The students have taken to the streets to demand justice. Itna Time Ho Chuka Hai (It has been so long). The government must take responsibility. The student community has our full support.”

The protesters, today, were reinforced by the presence of Fairoz Khan, National President of NSUI and Sucheta De, National President of AISA, besides other prominent leaders. Shedding light on a different version of the scam, Chairman of SSC Ashim Khurana contended, “We have knowledge that certain coaching institutes are manipulating and escalating the protest. Once the exam is cancelled, they may offer a crash course to candidates’ ace it earning quick bucks in the process.”

Amidst the mudslinging being undertaken by the administration, one beacon of hope is provided by the student political units standing against the grave injustice being meted out to the aspirants, thus paving the way for a united student community at the face of a divided administration.

Feature Image Credits: NSUI

 Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak

 vaibhavis@dubeat.com

 

 

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NSUI Starts Indefinite Hunger Strike to Put Forth Demands

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With unwavering purposefulness, NSUI started an indefinite hunger strike from the afternoon of January 23, 2018 at the Arts Faculty.
Members of NSUI braved the rains and flagged slogans such as, “Chatron ke samman mein, NSUI maidan mein” (NSUI has come out to work for the students), “Hum apna adhikar mangte, nahi kisise bheek mangte” (we ask for out rights, but refuse to beg), and “University humare-aapki, nahi kisike baap ki” (this university is ours, not any familial property).

In the hunger strike wherein senior members of the NSUI like Akshay Lakra and Anushesh Sharma were present, the gathering demanded the setup of a central library which would be open 24 hours of the day, u-special buses in campus for DU students, fee reduction of the Delhi School of Journalism, and special metro concessional passes for DU students.

It is noteworthy that until 2013, a number of University buses were plying to cater to DU students. But now, there is not a single u-special bus. As such, students of far-flung colleges such as Shyamlal College and Vivekananda College have been forced to use private cabs which dig a hole into their pockets. This also affects the safety of girls studying in colleges like Aditi Mahavidyalaya as they are forced to risk their lives and travel alone.

On being asked about their third demand by DU Beat, NSUI Delhi President Akshay Lakra reasoned, “Delhi Metro fare has almost doubled in the past 1.5 years. In October last year, I along with two NSUI activists Shauryaveer Singh and Arjun Chaprana were compelled to jump into the metro tracks in a protest to attract the attention of the government. But till date, nothing has progressed on that front.”
Speaking further on their fourth demand, Akshay Lakra asserted that the high fees for the Delhi School of Journalism symbolises defacto privatisation and hence needs to be reduced.
On being asked whether there has been any response from the authorities’ side, NSUI National Secretary Anushesh Sharma said, “We have tried to contact the VC and the Dean of DU, but they have ignored our demands. When we put forth our demand of a 24/7 centralized library, they ignored the same on the premise of security and budget excuses. Hence we will continue to strive for the students until our demands are fulfilled.”

Feature Image Credits: Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak for DU Beat

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak
vaibhavis@dubeat.com

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