SFI slams Himachal university's decision to constitute student association without polls

Shimla, Sep 13 (PTI) The Students' Federation of India (SFI) on Saturday condemned the Himachal Pradesh University's decision to change the process of constituting the Students' Central Association (SCA), bypassing the electoral process.

Anil Thakur, state president, SFI, said that according to the schedule released by the University, the process for constituting the central student body between September 16 and 25 will be through nominations and merit-based selection, not by direct elections.

"This is nothing short of a violation of democratic rights. Since 2014, student union elections have remained banned, silencing the collective voice of thousands of students across the state," the leader of the left-wing student organisation said.

"This authoritarian approach is clearly aimed at suppressing student movements that challenge anti-student policies. In recent years, Himachal Pradesh has witnessed sharp fee hikes, mushrooming of private universities, neglect of academic departments, fraudulent PhD admissions and the non-filling of vacant teaching and non-teaching posts.

"The deteriorating state of education is reflected in the continuous fall of the University's position in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), exposing the decline in academic quality and lack of basic facilities. In such a situation, depriving students of their democratic rights is not only anti-student but also a direct assault on the fundamental principles of the Constitution," he said.

"The University must also address long-pending issues such as construction of new hostels, filling vacant teaching and non-teaching positions, cancellation of fake PhD admissions, increasing subsidised seats, scrapping of the anti-student CBCS and Generic Elective system, and withdrawal of the NEP-2020. SFI pledges to intensify its struggle across the state until students' democratic rights are restored and their genuine demands are fulfilled," said Thakur. PTI COR AMJ AMJ