

Education is widely recognised as a potent tool for the “socio-economic mobility” of the vulnerable sections of the economy. But our central government seems to forget this fact and is implementing the policies which are affecting the students coming from socially deprived sections. Prime indication of government priority is allocation in budget. This year (2017-18), the budgetary outlay for SCs and STs are 2.4% and 1.2% of the total outlay respectively, both of which are far less than their share in population. Similarly, the gender budget spending is merely 5.3% of the outlay, which again is far less than the prescribed 30%.” I have to get seven months of my fellowship, one lakh and seventy-five thousand rupees. Please see to it that my family is paid that,” wrote Rohith Vemula in his suicide note. This is only a reflection of how the delays in government-sponsored scholarships drive the students from Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe (SC/ST) communities into desperation. There have also been numerous incidents of caste-based violence and brutal attacks on dalits and tribals in last two years.

Students of the country are in a struggle for a pro-student education policy focussed on addressing the needs and requirements of the Indian education system. This education policy can only be evolved by the active participation of teachers, academicians and students, and not by the dictates of the RSS headquarter in Nagpur. For last two years, we have seen militant struggle against fee hike, to have state control on private institutions, for social justice, in defence of democracy.
The march culminated in a public meeting which was addressed by Sitaram Yechury, MP, Rajya Sabha & former All India President of SFI; Hannan Mollah, General Secretary, AIKS; Vikram Singh, General Secretary, SFI; VP Sanu, President, SFI; Mayukh Biswas, Joint Secretary, SFI; Madhuja Sen Roy, Vice-President, SFI; Dipsita Dhar, Convener, Girls’ Sub-committee SFI and Sunand, Central Secretariat member, SFI. Sitaram Yechury made a scathing attack on RSS-BJP’s assault on democratic rights across the country and expressed confidence that SFI will emerge victorious in this struggle by mobilizing widest possible sections of students in the campuses.
The march reasserted the alternative vision of education for a better India. At a time when the Hindutva combine is attacking the very foundations of our education system to further its ideological agenda, it becomes very important that we build a movement with a positive agenda.



