Students’ organisations Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Students Federation of India (SFI) on Saturday staged a protest at the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) ahead of the Executive Council (EC) meeting and raised various student demands.
During the protest, a minor scuffle between police personnel and ABVP activists also took place when the activists tried to burn the effigy of the Vice-Chancellor of the University and also carried out his symbolic funeral procession to express their anger.
The scuffle occurred when police personnel tried to remove the activists from the protest site.
However, no injuries were reported in the incident.
With their protest, ABVP demanded the university authorities to roll back the hiked fees, provide adequate bus services for students, restore Students’ Council Elections (SCA), 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 many problems, the university administration continues to remain indifferent regarding these issues.
“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 have to face difficulties reaching the university, while the recent fee hike has put an additional financial burden on the students, especially those who belong to 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 movement if university authorities fail to take concrete steps for their demands.
Along with this, SFI also raised various student demands with a protest, 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, a delegation of SFI also submitted a memorandum of their demands to the members of the EC and demanded them to immediately fulfill their demands.
Addressing the protest, SFI Campus Secretary Mukesh accused the university authorities of continuing to ignore student concerns and said that students are being burdened with hiked fees, while the university is incurring unnecessary expenditures instead of ensuring financial discipline and transparency.
He said that the organisation has previously submitted several memorandums to the university administration; however, no concrete action has been taken by the authorities, which is very unfortunate.
He further said that SFI will launch a mass movement in the future if the university authorities and the EC fail to meet their demands.
