People's Democracy

HIMACHAL UNIVERSITY

CPI(M) Demands SCA Polls, Probe Against VC

THE Shimla district committee of the CPI(M) has taken a strong view of the ongoing exercise to snatch the democratic rights of the students in the name of curbing violence and improving academic environment on the  campus. The committee said the whole exercise to ban the students’ elections has a threefold objective behind it.

One, the university is being run in an autocratic manner by the incumbent vice chancellor. He is implementing the agenda of saffronising the university and providing out of place benefits to those who are close to him politically an ideologically. It is to keep all this going that he is curbing the voice of university students in a dictatorial manner.

Two, the university authorities are hell bent on making the education costly by increasing the charges on all fronts, including hostels, tuition fees, number of non-subsidised seats, etc, in order to deprive the mass of the people of quality education at subsidised rates. They also have the motive to benefit the private players in higher education by making the education costly in the state university and creating an unrestricted playing field for private universities.

Three, the vice chancellor and the BJP government both know that as they have got a negative image in the university and in the state respectively --- the image of being corrupt, anti-people, anti-academic and anti-education --- this cannot but have an impact on the student union elections in Himachal Pradesh University, and that the mass of students may go anti-establishment. That is why they feel the need to curb the students union.

In fact students of the HP University have been well aware of all the three factors listed above, and are a strong force opposing the current policy regime --- both within the university and elsewhere. That is why their democratic rights are being curbed. Otherwise, according to the CPI(M) district committee’s press release issued by its secretary Onkar Shad on August 9, neither there is a law and order situation in the state to warrant such an extreme step from the administration nor is there any problem on the academic front as far as the students community is concerned. For the last many years, students of the university have excelled at all the levels and have scored marks more than required for the getting an ‘A’ grade. On the other hand, it is the poor infrastructure and the dismal condition of teaching and research facilities in the university that has been appalling the students who perforce often agitate to get the situation improved. Under the present regime, the university has totally failed to improve the student grievances redressal system.

According to the CPI(M), it is in order to hide the administration’s failure and the lack of support from the state government to the university that they are painting the whole issue as one of law and order created over the years due to the SCA elections. On the contrary, whatever there is unhealthy in the university’s environment is due to the inefficient administration under the present vice chancellor whose anti-student attitude has been exposed many times earlier. He deliberately delayed the oath taking ceremony of the present SCA for ten months and now often boasts of the same. Earlier he ruthlessly ordered the closure of the hostels during the examination time and the students were brought on the roads. Since this person joined as the vice chancellor, the work culture, ethos and democratic norms in the university have nosedived while corruption, financial and administrative irregularities are the order of the day. To cover up his misdeeds and to regimentalise the academic and administrative activities, he has been taking resort to undemocratic means so that his misdeeds and administrative misadventures are covered up.

The Shimla district committee of the CPI(M) has demanded that the governor of Himachal Pradesh must intervene in the matter and order the vice chancellor to hold students union elections on the prevailing pattern and that to at an earlier date. The committee said not holding elections to the SCA would not only amount to the denial of democratic rights to thousands of students but would also be in strong violation of the Lyngdoh committee recommendation and the Supreme Court of India’s opinion, while inflicting a strong blow to the standing of the university on NAAC evaluation since elections to students bodies and grievances redressal system are important components of the same process of evaluation. It is also important that meanwhile the vice chancellor is immediately sent on a long leave and inquiry initiated into various acts of administrative and financial irregularities committed during the last 16 months of his regime.