The Students Federation of India, Uttarakhand State Committee (Sfi Sfi Uttarakhand) organized a seminar-cum-study circle in the SRTC Campus of HNB Garhwal University in District Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand on the 9th of December 2014. The purpose was to talk to the student community about the increasing privatization of education which is now running hand in hand with an aggressive Saffronization of education and inculcation of pseudo sciences since the new BJP-led government has taken over. The idea was to engage with the students and talk about how these policy levels of the center and the state governments impact their daily lives. The role of the SFI in struggles for a more egalitarian education system was also discussed by the speakers. It has been 14 years since Uttarakhand achieved statehood, but the anti-people policies of the Congress and the BJP governments has ensured that the basic facilities of health education and employment have not yet reached the hills where despite its scenic beauty, life remains hard for the people. While there have been many hotels built for the tourists, the people living there still suffer from hardships of the nature as exemplified by the 2013 floods and government apathy which has only rubbed salt on the wounds leading to discontent and migration in search of a better life. Education, like many other facilities has been a case of neglect and a major indicator of how opportunities to progress have been denied to the people in the hills. While the state of primary education is in shambles owing to rampant corruption and political interference, higher education is no better. Despite the HNB Garhwal university getting the status of a Central University, issues related to a better educational environment with more facilities like labs, nooks, libraries, hostels, transportation and better opportunities for exposure and employment remain. he delegation from the SFI included Comrade Manoj Kumar, , former Haryana state secretary and presently a central committee member of SFI who was the main speaker, Comrade Lekhraj who is the Uttarakhand state secretary of CITU and a known trade union activist in Dehradun and around, Comrade Abhishek Bhandari, Joint-secretary of SFI Uttarakhand, Comrade Peeyush Sharma who is a member of the Uttarakhand state committee of SFI and a firebrand activist and Akshat Seth, a member of the executive committee of the SFI at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. The SRTC campus can be counted among the very best in terms of its picturesque setting and natural beauty but the interaction with members of the student community made us feel that the place has much potential but for the want of proper investment of resources and infrastructure support. Comrade Manoj as the main speaker highlighted the lack of basic facilities that a Central University campus should have by linking it to the larger policies of the government which is playing a the benefactor to the Birlas and Ambanis whose agenda to privatize and commodify education has led to an adverse impact on students from marginalized backgrounds. and the lack of government interest for improvement in the facilities of public funded institutes. The BJP known for aggressive privatization policies and letting private institutes managed by religious bodies bypass regulations has now with its return to power again started upon its favorite timpeass of tinkering with the educational syllabus and promote pseudo sciences that are not only dangerous and promote superstition and communal hatred but also are of no use to students at a disadvantage economically. The Congress in the state and at the center has been no better and has actively promoted teaching shops selling degrees at exorbitant prices in the state whole at the same time not caring much for improvement in public funded institutes. The nexus of the politicians with the corporates in maintaining the status quo andtheir impact on the dailiy lives of the common students was discussed. Other speakers sought to link this up with the need to politicize and find the solutions to the day to day student problems in an alternative brand of student politics. Students put forth their own views regarding the problems and were encouraged to compile a list of their problems regarding transportation, better teaching, library etc. The SFI state committee and the local unit from SRTC assured all possible help with an active intervention in the students struggles. The meeting was followed by interaction and a membership drive with students also purchasing issues of Student Struggle and other progressive magazines and books for a minimal cost. It was ended by a tentative agreement for further such interventions by the SFI to push an alternative brand of student politics in these spaces where the organization is growing and there is scope for consistent struggles.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 19:59:56 +0000
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