People's Democracy

'Enact Central Legislation' 
SFI Protest Rally In Bangalore

  T Yashvantha

SFI president Ragesh addressing the protestors

AS the education ministers from all the states assembled at the imposing Vidhan Soudha, the seat of power in Bangalore, to deliberate on issues relating to education, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) underlined the need for a central legislation to curb the rampant commercialization of education in the country.  

It did this by organising a strong protest rally at Vidhan Soudha on January 10. The All India Education Ministers’ Conference, held on January 10-11 had just begun. The SFI was demanding central legislation to empower the state governments’ to regulate fees and admissions in unaided private and self-financing educational institutions. The SFI has been agitating on this issue all over the country in the recent past. It led a huge ‘March to Parliament’ on December 2, in which thousands of students from all over the country participated.

In fact, this education ministers conference was convened by the union government as a result of the prolonged militant struggle organised by SFI and other Left student organisations. The union HRD minister told the student leaders on December 2 that the central government would convene the education ministers conference to discuss the demand.

Leading to the protest, two rallies were held from the City Railway Station and Vasavi College, which culminated at the Government Arts College ground where the protest was held.

SFI president K K Ragesh addressed the gathering and criticised the central and state governments for their anti-student and anti-education policies and recalled that SFI was the first organisation to mount pressure on the union government for a central legislation to stop the floodgates of commercialisation of education. However, the anti-student BJP-led NDA government refused to enact it.

The protesting students urged that the ministers’ conference should end with the decision to legislate in favour of merit and should help poor and middle-class meritorious students to pursue professional education. They warned that if this is not done there would be further militant action.

They pointed out after the Supreme Court verdict in the TMA Pai foundation Vs State of Karnataka, the government lost all control over unaided private and self-financing institutions. As a result, managements of those institutions started demanding huge fees which was unaffordable to even the upper middle-class, protestors added.

SFI joint secretary T V Rajesh in his speech said that many students in Karnataka and Kerala had committed suicide as they were denied education.

Among those who addressed the students included SFI CEC member Vasudevan, SFI Karnataka state unit president K S Lakshmi, SFI Karnataka state secretary R Ramakrishna, and DYFI Karnataka state president K N Umesh.