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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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When students go to polls
Central status for PAU sought
Education programme for adolescents
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When students go to polls The student union election is a vibrant process of democracy, however, it still remains a contentious issue as to whether or not the students should participate in politics. While some believe that the students should take part in politics as a matter of duty, as the students union trains them in the working of democracy and makes them a complete citizen sensitised towards their rights and duties; the people, on other side of the debate, argue that since the student elections lead to students’ unrest, animosity, indiscipline and group rivalries on the campus, they should be banned. Though the arguments on both sides have merit of their own and cannot be brushed aside just in one go, one basic issue that remains unsettled is that in India, when any individual who has attained the age of 18 years has right to choose his representative to the Assembly or Parliament, then why can not the students have the right to elect their own representatives who are ought to be dealing with their problems that they face on the campus. Further, that the violence and the unrest in any society or a university can only be controlled by strengthening democracy and dialogue and not by repression, intimidation or coercion. There are many universities in our country where student elections are held peacefully and in a cordial atmosphere. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is one such example in this region where these elections are held in a purely democratic and peaceful manner, with out any bizzare demostration of muscle power, group clashes and expansive campagin material. JNU probably is the only university in Asia where elections are conducted by students themselves. There are no printed glossy leaflets, no lavish show of money and no interference from the administration. The students hold open-house debates on relevant academic and social issues as methods of canvassing. Last week’s student elections in Panjab University were, by and large, peaceful barring a few violations of the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee, even though the tempers ran high between the rival groups and there was a possibility of clashes till the last moment. But at the end, it was a case of all is well that ends well. The issue of student elections was taken by the Supreme Court on a petition filed by the Kerala government challenging the High Court order on holding the elections in its affiliated colleges. The court then issued some guidelines for student union elections on the basis of an Expert Committee Report submitted by former Chief Election Commissioner J. M. Lyngdoh in 2006. According to the Supreme Court and the Lyngdoh report, there should be yearly elections preferably after 6 to 8 weeks of the beginning of the academic session. The process of nomination, campaigning and declaration of results should not exceed 10 days. The smaller universities can conduct direct elections while the larger universities with many campuses can hold indirect elections. The maximum age to contest elections has been fixed as 25 years. Seventy-five percent attendance is necessary to be eligible to vote or contest. Only regular and full-time students are allowed to contest, and not the students of distance education programmes. There is a complete ban on the use of printed posters, hoardings, hand-made banners and political donations. The expense in any case cannot exceed Rs 5,000. No outsiders are permitted to take part in the election process in any capacity. No appeal to caste and communal sentiments is allowed. There would be no defacing of the campus buildings, and public meetings have to end 24 hours before the beginning of the polling time. The colleges and universities have to appoint observers and polling officers while District Police Officers will provide security to the candidates and enforce law and order during elections. This issue was again addressed by the Supreme Court in 2007 when Delhi University elected its student body. The court observed that the students studying in universities are “students first and leaders later”. This directive was for the students who disregard the recommendations laid down by the Lyngdoh Committee. In the light of this directive, it is expected that the students should give first and foremost priority to their studies and academics. They must help maintain discipline on the campus, show respect to the rule of law and demonstrate wisdom and maturity. Now when the Supreme Court has approved these elections in the light of the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, this would give the students their right to participate in decision-making processes in a more formal and democratic manner. It would reduce the arbitrariness of the Deans, Provosts and Wardens in imposing punishment, which is, most often, out of proportion of the mistake committed by the students. Secondly, the elected bodies would keep a tab on the “high-handedness” of the management, especially in the private colleges. There is no need not to shy away from the moral obligation of giving a foothold to the students in the entire decision-making process. There are clear-cut guidelines within which the elections can be held. We can look to JNU for a viable election model of elections in our universities. Among other things, the student elections are also important in order to improve the international reputation of our universities. The student unions were re-incarnated as student associations for academic excellence only keeping in mind the international scenario. But it is for the students alone to maintain the decorum and uphold the interests of the institution in order to pave the way for a healthy and vibrant participative democracy on the campus. The writer is Reader (Social Work),
Punjabi University, Patiala
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Central status for PAU sought The authorities of Punjab Agricultural University and the Punjab Agricultural University Teachers Association (PAUTA) have sought central status for PAU in order to meet the financial crisis and to undertake research activities. The request for the central status for PAU was sent to the state government a few months ago but the state government has not taken any steps in this regard, according to information available here. The move to get central status is now gaining momentum and the PAUTA is likely to launch agitation to achieve its mission. While seeking the central status, the PAU authorities have maintained, “Punjab Agricultural University has attained a special status in the history of Indian agriculture for its distinct role in ushering in green revolution in India. “PAU has already received the Best State Agricultural University Award from the ICAR and a special grant of Rs 100 crore from the Centre in 2006. Punjab Agricultural University is facing a deep financial crisis, as a result of which research, teaching and extension work of the university is suffering badly. For the last five years, the state government had been providing a lump sum grant of Rs 80 crore per year to meet the expenditure of the staff working under the state-funded schemes. This grant has now been enhanced to Rs 100 crore for the year 2007-08. This amount is insufficient to meet the expenditure on salaries of the employees. Out of the sanctioned posts of 1,166 and 3,329, only 940 and 2869 posts have been filled.” The authorities have further pointed out: “80 per cent of the expenditure of this university is met by the state government and if this is borne by the central government, it would be possible to incur this amount on development of agricultural related fields. Moreover, PAU has infrastructure in the form of laboratories, experimental areas and equipment along with talented manpower which can easily be up scaled. In the event of this university being given the status of a central university, it will be beneficial both for this state as well as for the nation.” Enquiries made by The Tribune reveal that this request was sent to the state government along with the memorandum of the PAUTA regarding the pay scales and the demand for the central status. The state government sent a query and sought information only regarding the pay scales and other expenses and did not say anything about the central status. Supporting the demand for the central status for PAU, Dr D. R. Bhumbla, former Vice-Chancellor, Haryana agricultural University, Hisar, said if PAU had not been established, the green revolution would not have become a reality. The PAU scientists raised Mexican wheat varieties like ‘PV 18’ and ‘Kalyn Sona’ which revolutionised the wheat production in the Punjab state and also in the country. Dr Bhumbla who is an internationally renowned soil scientist had served PAU as Head of the Soil Department and Dean, College of Agriculture, at Hisar before the bifurcation of PAU. Dr Bhumbla said PAU was in dire need of finance and the central status would help in achieving new heights in the research. Dr K. S. Aulakh, former Vice- Chancellor, PAU, while supporting the central status with a rider said the interest of the Punjab farmers must be protected before granting central status to PAU. Dr Aulakh further pleaded that the state government should not abdicate its responsibility and extend all financial help to PAU. S. S. Sandhu, Financial Commissioner (Development), Punjab, when asked about the memorandum of PAU and the PAUTA regarding the central status said he was not aware of any such thing. There was no move at present to seek central status for PAU, he said.
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Education programme for adolescents In an era, which is flooded with attractive communications on fashion, lifestyle, diverse facets of relationships and brand awareness, it is important to reinforce positive behaviour among adolescents along with values through necessary skill information. Keeping this ins mind, the DPI (Schools) is going to launch an adolescent education programme in all the senior secondary and secondary schools of
Chandigarh. The programme will be implemented through Red Ribbon Clubs in schools in collaboration with the UT State AIDS Control Society
(UTSACS), Chandigarh. This programme will be implemented to build capacities of adolescents and to prepare them for facing new challenges of modern-day life. The programme is designed for senior students of Class IX onwards with objectives to enhance their value-based life skills for coping and managing the concerns of adolescence through co-curricular activities. The life skills usually addressed are creative and critical thinking, self-awareness and self-esteem, decision making and problem solving, inter-personal relationships and effective communication, coping with stress and emotions, etc. The programme will provide accurate knowledge to students, so that they can develop healthy attitude and responsible behaviour during the process of growing up. It will also spread awareness about HIV/AIDS and substance abuse among students. For imparting training to the nodal teachers of Red Ribbon Clubs in the city, six master trainers from the city were trained recently at a National Aids Control
Organisation- sponsored workshop in New Delhi. They are Parmod Sharma, coordinator;
Yuvsatta, a city-based NGO; Dr Dazy Zarabi, programme coordinator, Regional Resource
Centre, Panjab University; Sandeep Mittal, UT SACS; two counsellors from the UT Education Department, Anoopreet Kaur and Gurjit
Kaur, and a parent, Satinder Kaur. Sharing her concerns, Dr Vanita Gupta, project director, State AIDS Control Society, UT,
Chandigarh, said: “More then 22 per cent of India’s population is between 10-19 years of age, representing a vibrant human resource. Adolescence is a period of formative dynamic transitions. So, what happens in the future largely depends to a large extent on decisions taken by adolescents during this period. With ever increasing threat of growing drug/substance abuse, gender discrimination, child abuse, HIV/AIDS infections, suicides amongst young people, it is high time that we realise the importance of this initiative and take corrective measures.” Dr Dazy
Zarabi, programme coordinator, Regional Resource Centre, Panjab University,
Chandigarh, said ignorance was the root cause of all evils and only through proper dissemination of knowledge could the life of our students be secured.
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Campus
Notes A national seminar on 'Recent Trends in Research on Spices and Aromatic Plants' was organised at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University in which more than 100 researchers from all over the country took part. Inaugurating the seminar, Director of Research, Dr B. S.
Chhillar, said the cultivation of spices and aromatic plants needed to be popularised at the grassroots level for diversification in agriculture and commercial farming. He said horticulture, including fruits, vegetables, floriculture and medicinal and aromatic plants, had emerged as an important sector for diversification in agriculture, but spices and aromatic plants offered new opportunities to farmers. India, he said, was the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices in the world. Though India accounted for 35 to 40 per cent of the global trade in spices, this sector needed to be encouraged in the country. Quoting a survey by the Bureau of Indian Standards, he said 63 spices crops were grown in India, out of which only 16 were in demand in the market. Dr Chhillar lauded the efforts by the Directorate of Spices Development,
Kerala, for promoting the cultivation, processing and utilisation of spices and medicinal and aromatic plants. Dr Satyavir Singh, Director, Horticulture,
Haryana, in his presidential address said Haryana had allocated Rs 235 crore to the Horticulture Department for devising need-based programmes for promoting horticulture. With the launching of the National Mission on Horticulture and nine-state plan schemes, the programmes on floriculture, seed production of these crops and germplasm bank had also been taken up. Dr Mathura Rai , Director, Indian Institute of Vegetable Research,
(IIVR), Varanasi, in his opening remarks underlined the need for organic cultivation of medicinal and spices crops. He said unlike organic food, the demand for organic products of these crops was increasing rapidly. Guru Jambheshwar University of
Science & Technology, Hisar An 11-member NBA Accreditation Team led by Prof P. N. Singh visited Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology for the accreditation of six courses. These were: M.Tech
(CSE), MCA, B.Tech (CSE), B.Tech (IT), B.Tech (ECE), B.Tech (Printing Technology). Vice-Chancellor Devinder Dayal Singh Sandhu said during the three-day visit, the team interacted with the faculty members, visited different departments and inspected laboratories, computer centre and library. — Contributed by Raman Mohan
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The student union election is a vibrant process of democracy, however, it still remains a contentious issue as to whether or not the students should participate in politics. While some believe that the students should take part in politics as a matter of duty, as the students union trains them in the working of democracy and makes them a complete citizen sensitised towards their rights and duties; the people, on other side of the debate, argue that since the student elections lead to students’ unrest, animosity, indiscipline and group rivalries on the campus, they should be banned.
