People's
Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) No. 09
March 02, 2003
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) |
Vol.
XXVII No. 09 March 02, 2003 |
Formed
in
1970
with
a
membership
of
1,23,642
the
Student’s
Federation
of
India
(SFI)
today
boasts
of
a
robust
28,69,918
membership.
Proving
all
pundits
and
communal
forces
wrong,
SFI
presents
a
picture
of
unusually
surprising
growth
in
all
parts
of
the
country.
This
is
evident
from
the
report
presented
by
Samik
Lahiri,
before
the
delegates
assembled
in
the
eleventh
conference
of
the
organisation
at
Kozhikode,
Kerala.
On
all
criteria,
be
it
the
increase
in
membership,
or
the
control
of
elected
bodies
in
colleges
and
universities,
or
agitations,
campaigns
and
struggles,
SFI
presents
a
picture
of
growth
and
progress.
This
was
made
possible
because
SFI
has
a
concrete
programme
of
action
and
a
philosophy
by
which
it
scientifically
analyzes
the
student
and
education
issues,
the
general
secretary
underlined
in
his
report.
When
the
tenth
conference
was
held
in
Chennai
the
membership
was
24,37,279.
This
shows
that
there
was
an
increase
of
more
than
4
lakh
members
during
the
last
three
years.
The
increase
of
membership
is
evident
not
only
in
Kerala,
West
Bengal
and
Tripura,
but
also
in
Haryana,
Himachal
Pradesh
etc.
The
last
conference
had
divided
the
different
states
of
India
into
three
categories
on
the
basis
of
the
strength
of
the
SFI.
The
first
category
included
states
like
Kerala,
Bengal
and
Tripura
where
SFI
is
very
strong.
The
second
category
was
christened
as
the
developing
states
and
they
included
Tamilnadu,
Andhra
Pradesh,
Himachal
Pradesh,
Manipur
and
Haryana.
All
the
other
states
were
included
in
the
third
category
where
the
organisation
was
very
weak.
Due
to
the
untiring,
relentless
and
hectic
activities
of
the
cadres
and
the
organisation,
a
few
states
in
the
third
category
could
now
be
promoted
to
the
second
category
and
Andhra
Pradesh
which
was
included
in
the
category
of
developing
states
could
now
be
promoted
to
the
first
category.
During
the
last
three
years
there
has
been
an
increase
of
more
than
83,000
members
in
Andhra
Pradesh
alone.
The
last
three
years
were
a
period
of
burning
struggles
in
different
parts
of
the
country.
SFI
was
committed
to
fight
the
commercialisation
and
communalisation
of
education.
It
was
also
committed
to
fight
for
the
democratic
rights
of
the
student
community.
The
Chennai
conference
took
apt
decisions
to
augment
these
struggles.
The
general
secretary
in
his
report
claimed
that
these
decisions
could
be
successfully
implemented
during
the
last
three
years
to
a
very
great
extent.
In
states
like
Andhra
Pradesh,
Kerala,
Karnataka,
Tamilnadu
etc
the
organisation
fought
relentlessly
against
commercialisation
of
education.
In
Rajasthan
and
Maharashtra
SFI
fought
to
safeguard
the
interests
of
public
education
based
on
secularism
and
democracy.
In
63
government
colleges
of
Tamilnadu
a
long
drawn
out
struggle
for
a
period
of
63
days
was
successfully
led
by
the
SFI.
The
struggle
held
in
Karnataka
against
the
excessive
increase
in
fees
is
also
noteworthy.
SFI
could
retain
most
of
the
universities
and
colleges
it
was
controlling
through
democratic
elections.
Besides,
the
SFI
could
capture
more
and
more
universities
and
colleges
during
the
last
three
years.
During
the
interregnum,
West
Bengal
SFI
had
an
unprecedented
victory
in
universities
and
colleges.
Kerala
also
presented
the
same
picture.
The
following
are
a
few
of
the
most
prestigious
universities
and
colleges
where
the
SFI
and
its
supported
nominees
could
register
thumping
wins
during
the
last
three
years:
