Power struggle

But then this does not stop student groups from electing their presidents. And interestingly,these presidents,officially not recognised by college managements,still find a voice in the day-to-day running of the college affairs. Students unions like left-supported PSU,right wing ABVP,Congress supported NSUI and the most recent Akali Dal supported SOI are making their presence felt in colleges.

The image of student president and politics has,however,changed.

R P S Aulakh,an agriculture technocrat who formed the Postgraduate Students Association in PAU in the mid-eighties recalls,“Things were better in our times. Student leadership these days has become very self-centred. The president now-a-day is more worried about his post than about the matters concerning students and that is why they are not able to make much mark in students politics.” Aulakh adds,“In our times,we used to educate students as to how things happening around us affected our lives,we would have discussions,meetings and whenever we went to authorities with our demands,they were forced to listen to us. It is a different story now. The authorities know how to manipulate the presidents and they do that openly.”

Jaspinder Singh Malhi and Gurinder Singh Ginda are two students fighting for the post of president at the LLR DAV College in Jagraon. Each claims to enjoy the support of students by way of brandishing SUVs,swords,sticks and a few boys. This is the case with many colleges in Ludhiana too.

Arun Kumar,a PSU activist who works in city colleges,says,“The entire face of students’ unionism has changed. Students’ unions these days have more or less become the goons for political parties. And this is true for both Congress and the Akalis. Both parties need young boys who love fast cars,guns and can wield some clout in the area. At a recent rally organised by the Akalis,the SOI members took away boys on gunpoint to this rally. No one is bothered about students’ rights,their problems or their issues. It is all about brandishing power.”

Dr K S Sandhu,Director Students Welfare,GADVASU,explains,“Students these days have lost direction. They do not know what to do with their lives. Things come easy to them.”

A student coming to the college or university these days has a fancy mobile phone,if not a car then a motorcycle and parents do not mind all this. The leisure time that these students have on their hands is spent drinking and creating a ruckus. In our times,most intelligent and outstanding student used to be the president but now a days,the student who is an infamous goon becomes the president.