ABVP keeps a foot in both camps
Releases populist manifesto with special focus on academia & infra
Focusing on academics, infrastructure and women safety on campus as core issues, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Monday launched their manifesto for the upcoming Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections, a few days after the other student unions. However, the RSS affiliate student organisation, unlike others, is confident that all the four seats in DUSU would be theirs this time. According to union leaders, the party has got enough student support to sweep the elections this time around.
The union, which managed to grab three of the four seats last year in DUSU, is now relying on their success in the campaign against the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) to garner votes this time. Presidential candidate Mohit Nagar said, “ABVP lives up to what it says. Student activism was rekindled with us in DUSU last year. We promised that we would have FYUP rolled back and after a year of constant struggle, we managed to achieve the goal. Students know that ABVP doesn’t just promise, but performs. Students will always choose a candidate who will deliver and ABVP candidates always deliver.”
ABVP has prepared a clear roadmap for the next one year where they plan to set the ball in motion for integral issues relating to students in DU. Academic reforms however, find special prominence in the manifesto of the union. After the FYUP debacle, ABVP now wants to make sure that the running courses are improved to benefit students. Restructuring of Science courses in order to keep it in line with the industry and modern-day requirement, AICTE approval for B-Tech courses being run in the university, setting up e-library facilities for students, opening up the Central Science and Central Reference libraries for students 24x7 and assuring that permanent teachers are appointed in the university are the union’s top academic demands.
Infrastructure, according to Delhi State Secretary Saket Bahuguna, needs to be improved in sync with these reforms. “These reforms also need inclusivity in terms of infrastructure. We also need to get compact campuses for this purpose and enough security so that girls can access libraries at any hour and feel safe within the campus. We want sufficient attention paid to infrastructure,” he said.
One of the points on the manifesto also include opening up new bank accounts for students. The manifesto also deals with women safety, enhancing hostel facilities, providing university buses, helping research students and strengthening extracurricular activities.
North-East students also find special mention in the ABVP manifesto which talks about creating a friendly environment for them. Extending DU campuses to East and West are also on ABVP’s agenda for the coming year. The election is on September 12 after which the fate of the party will be declared. “However, we are confident that we will win all four seats,” said Bahuguna.