The need for the coming together of the student movements in Tamil Nadu has risen once again after the mass protests that were organised to oppose the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in 2018.
This time, it's the Tamil Nadu governor's inaction in conducting convocation in state universities, leaving more than nine lakh students' lives at stake, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
Federation of Students Organization -Tamil Nadu (FSO-TN), under which around 13 student organisations have come together for a common cause, have announced their protest near Raj Bhavan in Chennai on June 16.
Coming together for a cause
CVMP Ezhilarasan, MLA and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) students organisation secretary, organizer of FSO-TN, said, the delay in convocation has become a pressing issue in Tamil Nadu which has left around a million students' life stagnant, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
"For many first-generation students, PhD students and students from rural areas graduating is not just a dream, but a next step to their life in protecting their family," he added. Almost all of the students who studied in these universities would be coming from a humble background without a stable economic situation, this alone should precede all other reasons for the governor to make his decision sooner, he opined.
"Rather than being egoistic, Governor RN Ravi should think of many lives being at stake just because of his decision," he added.
NEET, NEP and now, the Governor
Speaking about the organisations that have come together for this, he said, the federation which already took its form during the protests against NEET and National Education Policy (NEP), has, for the second time, affiliated to no political party, come together in order to condemn the governor's continuous interference in educational matters.
Contrary to the already existing system of involving three members — one syndicate member, one state government representative and one governor's representative — in the search committee for the selection of vice-chancellors to universities, the governor has recommended to the Union government that an additional member from the University Grants Commission (UGC) should be added. This goes against the Indian Constitution which mandates that the state government has the authority when it comes to forming a university and matters pertaining to it, said S Prince Ennares Periyar from the Dravidian Students Federation.
Adding to this, he alleged, with continuous interference in the matters of the state universities, the governor has become a member of the BJP government involved in the saffronisation of the educational system.
"This protest can be seen as a demand for limiting governor's activities only to his post, being in an ex-officio post does not give him the right to act as a decision maker," he added.
Medical counselling and more
G Niruban Sakkaravarthi, Students' Federation of India (SFI), said the organisations leaving behind their political differences have come forward for the students' in the state.
"The Union government's proposal to conduct the medical counselling on their own will defy the purpose of reservation in the state which is meant for the upliftment of the students, which would also be strongly opposed during this protest," he added.
"We hope these issues reach the people of the state, which will, in turn, make them aware of the silent political decisions taken by the Union government," he said.
