Instant result: ‘Ally’ ABVP holds demo, MP govt concedes demands

Special Correspondent

NewsBits.in

Bhopal: Reacting instantly to a massive demo organised by state unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) – considered a sister organisation – the BJP government in MP conceded to major demands of the students’ body on Wednesday.

Visiting the demonstration site of the ABVP in Bhopal, the state higher education minister Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya announced revival of students’ council election and scrapping of semester system in state colleges from next academic session.

Though ABVP claims to be non-affiliated to any political party, it functions as the students’ wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – the ideological guide of BJP.

This makes ABVP a sister organisation to the BJP and therefore the massive protest by the students’ body was being watched with interest. The initiative by the higher education minister to resolve the demands thus did not come as a big surprise.

The ABVP was holding the demo to press its 35-point demands focussed at affordable and quality education, flushing out the education mafia and pro-student policies. The minister also assured students that the admission procedure would be simplified (currently the admissions are done in colleges through centralised online process).

Pawaiya also said that the issue of hiking the scholarships of SC/ST students would be taken up before the state cabinet and efforts would be made to fill in all vacant posts of college principals.

At least 10,000 ABVP activists and students had gathered at Kaliasot Dussehra Maidan on Wednesday morning and held a public meeting addressed by national general secretary Vinay Bidre and state level office bearers.

Later the activists marched through the city roads before being stopped at Tin Shed by the police. Here the ABVP activists got a big aggressive, but soon the situation was controlled as Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya reached out to the demonstrators.

Students’ council polls promised after 5 years

Students’ council polls were discontinued in MP since academic session 2012-13 despite a MP High Court order in 2009 that direct elections according to Lyngdoh committee recommendations should be held in state colleges.

Between 2008-09 and 2010-11, students’ council were formed through nominations but in session 2011-12, students were allowed to elect their class representatives (CRs) and these elected representatives further elected office bearers (president, vice-president, secretary, joint-secretary) among themselves.

Similar indirect elections to students’ councils were in vogue from 1998 to 2008. But the students’ organizations have been demanding direct polls where students are allowed to elect their CRs as well as the office-bearers.