Promising a fight for the ‘Institution of Eminence’ (IoE) tag for Delhi University (DU) and a student canteen that will serve thalis for Rs 10, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Monday kickstarted its campaign for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) polls by launching its manifesto ahead of other organisations. The NSUI, which had bagged the top two posts of president and vice-president in last year’s polls, said its biggest achievement was creating a “safe campus” where people are allowed to hold programmes and express their opinions freely. All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for NSUI, Ruchi Gupta, said, “Six universities were selected by the BJP government for the IoE tag. DU had also applied, but it was rejected. Jio Institute, which doesn’t have its own campus or website, was given the tag. We will fight for this tag, so that DU gets Rs 1,000 crore and its budget is doubled.” Other promises include providing “subsidised complete meal thali at Rs 10” and free laptops to students. “During the four-year undergraduate programme, free laptops were distributed, but we don’t know what happened to them once it was scrapped. They should be distributed again,” said NSUI national president Fairoz Khan.
