vice president Archives - DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

On 5th September, 2019, DU Beat conducted an interview with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) Vice Presidential candidate, Pradeep Tanwar to know him and his perspective regarding the upcoming Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections.

Pradeep Tanwar, is a graduate in B.A. Programme from P.G.D.A.V College. He’s currently pursuing his masters in Hindi from Deshbandhu College. He has been a part of ABVP since 2015, and believes his true interest lies in politics and solving students’ problems.

What are the main issues you and your party will focus on for DUSU 2019?

The main issues we will focus on are:

Metro concession pass: it’s unfair to ask a student who comes from a middle-class family to spend so much on travelling. Our biggest fight is for metro concession passes.
Hostels in South Campus: Except Venky (Sri Venkateswara College), there aren’t a lot of colleges that have hostels in south campus. We will work to establish these hostels.

To the common student, DUSU feels like an unapproachable political entity, what will you and your party do to ensure accountability to the students of University of Delhi?

I, along with other ABVP members, have went to each college to personally listen to the problems of students and solve them. Students get help from ABVP from the time they get their admission done to the date of their farewell. I will personally organise campaigns in each college to listen to students.

The incidents on Old Gupta Road and Hindu Rao Hospital highlight security concerns for those living in North Campus, what steps will you take to ensure safety and security on campus?

Of course, we’re working towards making campus safer. We’ve made a committee to look into this, and asses the cases to make campus student-friendly.

Campaigning every year uses up a tremendous amount of paper for pamphlets, posters etc., which then leads to litter on campus, what is your say on the matter?

These are how elections take place, it has become a method by all parties. ABVP doesn’t do littering as we’re always fighting for a clean campus.

University of Delhi (DU) was recently declared an Institute of Eminence by the Union Government which entitles DU to a payment of a 1000 crores over 5 years, however, the trend in 2019 in DU has been of increasing fees and hostel rates, why do you think this is so? And what will your party do to reduce fee hikes and hostel rates?

It’s the staff and other people involved who are using this money for their own benefits. We’re working constantly towards fighting fee hikes. We protest or petition, but we always get success for students. Deshbandhu College had raised its fees, we had protested there with the students.

The Lyngdoh Committee lays down 5000 rupees as the maximum expenditure amount, how does your party maintain it?

We always manage our campaigning under the budget. We follow all rules of the committee. ABVP works all year round so we don’t require high campaigning.

Which element differentiates you from the other contenders for the post of Vice President?

What differentiates me, is my affiliation to ABVP. Students will vote for me as ABVP is the only party that works year-round for the students on a ground level, unlike other parties.

Last year, there were allegations of EVM tampering against ABVP, also to be noted, the EVM’s were privately supplied and not by the Election Commissions, how do you plan to make sure elections are held fairly?

You ask this question to us on every meeting. I would like to inform that ABVP follows the rules of Lyngdoh committee very well. At this point, all other parties are non-existent and then they use these dirty tactics making politics intimidating for all.

ABVP Panel

President: Akshit Dahiya, Ballot No.1

Vice President: Pradeep Tanwar, Ballot No. 5

Secretary: Yogit Rathi, Ballot No. 3

Joint Secretary: Shivangi Kharwal, Ballot No. 4

Feature Image Credits : ABVP

Chhavi Bahmba

[email protected]

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The Honourable Vice President of India acknowledged Janki Devi Memorial College’s emergence as a prominent University of Delhi (DU) College and its contribution to Women’s Empowerment (Mahila Shasastikaran) at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the college.

Early in the morning, by 7:30 am, the college was full and buzzing with excitement to welcome the Honourable Vice President of India, Sh. Venkaiah Naidu and the Vice Chancellor of University of Delhi, Sh. Yogesh Kumar Tyagi on the occasion of the Founder’s Day of Janki Devi Memorial College (JDMC). The Founder’s Day is an annual event held to remember the contribution of the illustrious founder of Janki Devi Memorial College, Sh. Brijkrishan Chandiwala, the eminent Gandhian who was committed to the cause of women’s education. This year the Founder’s Day also set in motion the year-long 60th Anniversary celebrations of the college, and the college was honoured to have the inauguration of the distinguished speakers series, wherein the first lecture was delivered by the Honourable Vice President.

In keeping with the environmentally-conscious traditions of the college, each guest planted a sapling. After the lighting of the lamp, there was a scintillating performance by Nupur, the Indian classical dance society of JDMC.

Professor Tyagi, in his speech welcomed all the first-year students of JDMC and wished them a happy new session, stressing on the fact that studying at the University of Delhi—which has some of the best faculty in the world—is indeed a privilege.

Dr Swati Pal, Principal of JDMC welcomed the Vice President, and all present in the audience with her speech. A short-film about the evolution of the college since its inception followed her speech. Its Foundation stone was laid by none other than Pandit Nehru in 1960, and since then the college portals have welcomed many esteemed dignitaries. Dr Pal spoke of the diamond-like qualities of the college: its evolution, its inherent quality, shine, and worth, and above all, its endurance and invincibility: the theme also of the Diamond jubilee celebrations of the college. She reminded the students to always be inspired by Bhaiji’s devotion to truth, purity, simplicity, philanthropy, and the vision of women’s self-reliance and to remain grounded as humane and good individuals.

This was followed by the Inaugural Distinguished Lecture by Sh Venkaiah Naidu, which was eagerly anticipated by the students.

The Honourable Vice President congratulated the college for being one of the prominent educational institutions, and for promoting women’s empowerment. He began by praising the social commitment of the college as evidenced in the activities of the NCC, NSS, Equal Opportunities Cell, and Gandhi Study Circle. He also took cognizance of how the college assisted and helped in empowering the differently abled, and lauded the environment-conscious policies and infrastructure. He told the students how important it is to keep nature and culture in sync with each other. Furthermore, he discussed the aims of an ideal education. It must be geared towards knowledge generation, equal opportunities, employment, and above all, towards morality. He spoke of the reverence for the feminine in ancient Indian cultural practices and hoped that this would be instilled in the future also. He paid tribute to Bhaiji’s vision and shared many amusing and thought-provoking observations about cultural practices, that form the context of modern education in the true sense of the word. His speech, laden with humour, and his personal interaction with students made the audience respond with a full-hearted applause.

The vote of thanks was offered by Prof. Brajesh Chaudhary, the Chairman of the Governing Body of the College who also spoke about the need for constant assessment, and re-evaluation in the education system.

Dr Pal felicitated all the guests with saplings, mementos, and gifts.

Indeed, it was the perfect start to the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of Janki Devi Memorial College.

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