Hostels, women’s safety take centre stage at SFI-AISA ‘mahapanchayat’

The joint campaign of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students Association (AISA) for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections picked up momentum on Tuesday as the student bodies held a ‘Delhi University (DU) Mahapanchayat’.

The event witnessed a massive student turnout, with the alliance declaring that this year’s battle would be against “failed promises, privatisation, and saffronisation” on campus.

The first to address the gathering was Anjali, one of AISA’s probables for the elections, who slammed the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP).

She said: “The FYUP was forcefully brought on to our campuses despite a large student opposition. This year, the first batch (under the FYUP) in DU entered its fourth year, and the university is clearly not equipped with appropriate infrastructure to accommodate the programme. We reject the FYUP, we reject the NEP, and we reject the saffronisation of our educational institutions.”

Sohan Kumar Yadav, SFI’s probable presidential candidate, took aim at the outgoing student union.

He said: “We will not back down till our demands are met. This year, the students have realised that these ABVP and NSUI-led unions failed to meet any demands that they promised in their previous-year manifestos. It was a year full of social media gimmicks and infighting, as students continued to suffer. This year, the students will choose the SFI-AISA alliance.”

At the ‘mahapanchayat’, women’s safety across DU campuses took centre stage.

Abhinandana Pratyashi, one of the frontrunners to represent SFI in the polls, drew attention to incidents of harassment in women’s colleges. She told the crowd: “Women on the campus are not safe. We have seen, year after year, so many incidents of harassment happening with women students in and out of campuses. Every year, ABVP goons barge into Miranda House, Gargi, DRC, and other women’s colleges. We demand that colleges ensure functioning internal complaints committees (ICCs) with elected student representatives, and programmes and workshops to ensure safety for women in and out of campuses.”

Accommodation emerged as another burning issue. Abhishek Kumar, tipped to contest on an AISA ticket, talked about the plight of students hailing from other areas.

He said: “Lakhs of students take admissions in DU every year, and more than 50 per cent of them are outstation students. They have nowhere to go! PGs are too expensive, flats are not affordable, cheap rooms are unhygienic and unliveable. DU, one of the biggest universities in the country, will spend crores of rupees every year on conducting festivals, but not on constructing hostels. It is shameful. The SFI-AISA union will ensure appropriate accommodation facilities for all students.”

Leaders alleged that Delhi University had served as the “first laboratory” of RSS-BJP politics for the last decade, eroding democratic traditions and imposing policies that commercialised education.

They vowed to “defeat the RSS-ABVP-administration nexus” this election.

Closing the ‘mahapanchayat’, Sneha, SFI’s DU coordinator, and Saavy, AISA’s DU president, appealed to students to rally behind the alliance.

• End to ‘bogus’ SEC-VAC courses

• Roll back of internal assessment scheme

• End to fee hikes

• Concessional metro pass for students

• Hostels for all

• Functioning internal complaint committees in all colleges

  Key Demands