It is election season at the University of Hyderabad (UoH), more commonly known as the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) – and the polling will occur tomorrow, November 9. With the conclusion of the campaigning phase, when there seems to be an air of calm before the storm of voters tomorrow, EdexLive speaks to the Presidential Candidates of various student groups vying for a place in the student union.
Here, we bring forth the vision and agenda of the alliance of the Ambedkar Students’ Association, Students’ Federation of India, and Tribal Students’ Forum (ASA-SFI-TSF), from the words of Md Ateeq Ahmed, a PhD Scholar of Urdu from the School of Languages, and the alliance’s presidential candidate.
Hailing from the V Kohir Sangareddy district in Telangana, Ateeq said that he got an idea of the politically charged atmosphere of HCU right after he joined the university in 2016, as an Integrated MA student in Urdu. “I realised that most political agitation in HCU happens about student welfare, and saw SFI being at the forefront of these agitations,” he explains and adds that he joined SFI soon after.
Shortage of funds – the biggest impediment
Now, as a presidential candidate in the HCU student union elections, Ateeq believes that the biggest blow to student welfare in the university is a lack of funds.
“Once elected, we are willing to put in the work to improve our campus and the infrastructure in it for the students – but we have been seeing massive cuts in the funds from the university administration,” he says.
The election manifesto of the alliance reads, “...the government expenditure on education in India has been declining consistently. The budget estimates for 2023-24 continue to remain at 0.37% of the GDP. This underscores a concerning trend of reduced government spending on education, impacting fellowships and welfare programmes.”
Elaborating more on this, Ateeq says that the administration itself claims to be helpless in this regard. “Whenever the student union approached the administration for funds, it responded that the university has been seeing a decline in funds and manpower,” he reveals.
In addition, he says that this lack of funds has also led to students not being able to enjoy basic amenities on the campus. About this, the statement reads, “The disengagement of 36 workers while the University has already been struggling to facilitate basic amenities, the inadequacy of mess workers and subsequent shutdown of two messes, the insufficient infrastructure etc. are the direct result of severe fund cuts from the centre.”
“We would continue to fight against this lack of funds and demand for better infrastructure for all students,” Ateeq says.
Infrastructural changes for an inclusive campus
The campus of HCU is a diverse and vibrant place with students coming from all over India, Ateeq says. To ensure that the campus is inclusive and accommodating to all of them, he says that there needs to be massive improvements in the functioning of the campus.
For example, he says that the health insurance of the students needs to be more affordable. “Many students come from marginalised communities and poor families, often from other states. We are fighting to ensure that there is better medical insurance coverage for them, to ease their time here on the campus,” he says.
In addition, the alliance has also proposed to continue the struggle for a 5% relaxation of attendance for all menstruating students.
To promote both hygiene and diversity of food, the alliance seeks to push for special training workshops for the cooking staff in the campus messes to include nutritious meals from all over the country.
In a bid to make the campus more accessible for students with disabilities, the alliance aims to introduce ramps, doors that open automatically, disability-friendly washrooms, and accessible entrances. Further, the alliance also promises to arrange special transportation services for students with disabilities.
Other notable promises by the alliance include:
Timely disbursal of fellowships
Increased sports and cultural activities on campus
Improved health facilities for students
Increase in the existing non-NET and DAG Fellowships, as well as hiking them on par with other national fellowships
More streetlights on campus
Maintenance of parks and gardens
Introduction of gender-neutral washrooms
Revoking false charges on student activists during the Rohith Vemula movement and other struggles
Maintaining the track record
Ateeq says that if elected, the student union would keep up the long-term progress accomplished by SFI and ASA in the previous term.
He goes on, “Our biggest accomplishment in the last term was ensuring that the application fees for CUET were reduced to 50%, after protesting for five days.”
Then, he talks about the measures taken against caste discrimination in PhD admission interviews, as a result of the student union’s agitation. “There were major changes in the policy level, where the caste anonymity of the students is being maintained,” he said.
Further, he details how the student union fought against the zero-backlog policy of the Centre of Integrated Studies. “We were able to ensure that students with a single backlog were also promoted, and received their fellowships,” he said.
Ateeq says that SFI and the student union are always aware of student struggles and that the alliance would strive hard to resolve them.
“The students’ union does not have the power to make policies. We only act as a pressure group to bring student concerns to the administration’s attention and push them to make student-friendly policies. We know what problems exist, and what affects student life as we are constantly on the ground, interacting with students and listening to their concerns. We are always attuned to student needs,” Ateeq asserts.
Candidates from the ASA-SFI-TSF Alliance
Here are the candidates from the alliance, and the posts that they are contesting:
President - MD Ateeq Ahmed
General Secretary - Deepak Kumar Arya
Vice President - Jalli Akash
Joint Secretary - Lavudi Bala Anjaneyulu
Cultural Secretary - Samim Aktar Sheikh
Sports Secretary - Athul
ICC GSCASH (PG) - K Pooja
ICC GSCASH (Research) - Soumya Mohan KP
ICC GSCASH (INT) - Nandana Panikkil
