Students’ organisations Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Students Federation of India (SFI) on Friday staged separate protests at Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) ahead of the meeting of the Executive Council (EC), raising a range of student-related demands.
During the protests, a minor scuffle broke out between police personnel and ABVP activists when the activists attempted to burn an effigy of the university’s Vice-Chancellor and carried out his symbolic funeral procession to express their anger. The scuffle occurred after police personnel tried to remove the activists from the protest site. However, no injuries were reported.
Through its protest, ABVP demanded that the university authorities roll back the recent fee hike, provide adequate bus services for students, restore Students’ Council Association (SCA) elections and immediately recruit non-teaching staff to ensure the smooth functioning of the university.
Addressing the protest, ABVP campus president Akshay Thakur said that despite students facing several problems, the university administration continued to remain indifferent to their concerns.
“Despite repeated memorandums and verbal assurances, no concrete action has been taken by the university. Due to the lack of buses, students from far-flung areas face difficulties in reaching the university, while the recent fee hike has placed an additional financial burden on students, especially those from economically weaker families. ABVP has always fought for students’ interests and will continue to raise these demands until they are fulfilled by the university," he said.
He further warned of intensifying the agitation if the university authorities failed to take concrete steps to address the demands.
Meanwhile, SFI also staged a protest, raising demands including the restoration of SCA elections, withdrawal of the fee hike, construction of new hostels, allotment of teaching work to regular teachers, and a judicial inquiry into teacher recruitments and financial matters. Later, an SFI delegation submitted a memorandum of its demands to members of the EC and urged them to fulfil them without delay.
Addressing the protest, SFI Campus Secretary Mukesh accused the university authorities of continuing to ignore students’ concerns. He said students were being burdened with higher fees while the university was incurring unnecessary expenditure instead of ensuring financial discipline and transparency. He added that the organisation had previously submitted several memorandums to the university administration, but no concrete action had been taken, which was “very unfortunate".
He further said SFI would launch a mass movement if the university authorities and the EC failed to meet its demands.
