Can campus politics give quality leaders to state?

Rachana Ramesh | NT
Bengaluru

The dearth of young political leaders at the grass-root level in Karnataka has ignited the debate of whether active student politics and elections on college campuses in the state are necessary. Those who support campus politics believe that it can do a world of good for the state.

By the end of 1989, there were several lower court rulings against the incidents of violence on college campuses, which gave the government headed by Veerendra Patil the courage to ban party-based union elections on campuses. Unions had protested against the anti-student decisions taken by the educational institutions. Agitations against fee hikes and other university policies were common and effective. An alternative forum called ‘councils’ now exists but is ineffective when it comes to addressing students’ issues.

Navya Roy, the sports secretary of Mount Carmel College, has been recently elected to the students’ council. “You must not have backlogs and must produce proof of achievement in the particular area you are applying for,” Navya explained the qualification criteria to apply for the post. Once you apply, a designated group of teachers go through various parameters and shortlist a few candidates. Then the elections are conducted and the results are announced. “Even though the students are voting for us, we still have a small say when it comes to the management. The authorities get involved a lot. The issues of students can be brought up to them but at the end of the day it’s their words against ours,” said Navya.

St.Joseph’s College also follows the same procedure, said Rahul Dravid, President of the students’ council.

Christ university, on the other hand, follows a procedure where no elections are conducted and the college authorities directly pick the members for the council. Amarnath Shenoy, a student at the Christ University said, “Unions are necessary for the mobilisation of students’ agitations. Students who are favourable to the administration get better positions in the students’ council.”

“The ban on campus politics has cut down on the quality of leaders the state has been able to produce. There is now a big gap in the number of students who are interested in politics compared to how it was in the past. Many leaders in the age group of 45-50 boast of emerging from student politics but we now don’t see any such leaders due to the ban,” said Dhruv Ratti, a student activist.

“The councils that now exist come up based on puppet elections. The students have zero say and the administration manages everything,” he said. “With appropriate standard operating procedure taken up during the elections and stricter moderations brought in to curb violence, unions can be brought back,” he said, pointing out that if other states can do it, why can’t we.