India Tomorrow
New Delhi, Feb 4— Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, a pan-India students organization released its “Education Manifesto” at the Press Club of India here on Monday and demanded the political parties to include main issues of the students community in their election manifestos.
“India is the largest democracy in the world, which provides the opportunity for people to resolve their issues and challenges through their elected representatives who would represent their demands in the legislative body and build consensus. Election manifesto is a mean to communicate people’s hopes and aspirations to potential representatives,” said leaders of SIO – Students Islamic Organisation of India
Two major demands in the SIO manifesto are enactment of Rohit Vemula Act and establishment of off-campus centres of Aligarh Muslim University in all minority-concentration districts in the country.
The previous Congress-led UPA government had announced to open five such centres – three of them are functioning, one in Malappuram, another in Kishanganj and one more in Murshidabad.
SIO General Secretary Syed Azharuddin said: “On behalf of students and youth of India, the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) takes this opportunity to present a “Students’ Manifesto” before all the political parties for consideration and inclusion in their respective manifesto and agenda.”
The recommendations and demands laid out in the manifesto are divided into three categories; education, youth and human rights issues.
Education:
While sharply criticizing the central and state governments for their poor implementation of the Right to Education Act, SIO has made a number of recommendations to improve efficiency and transparency.
Demands:
Enactment of Rohit Act
Establishment of AMU Off Campus Centres in Minority Concentrated Districts
Increase in the stipend of Maulana Azad National Fellowship
Increase in Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship
Roll back of the requirement of NET for eligibility
Reservation in educational institutions as per Sachar Committee report
Improve scholarship schemes
Provide healthcare for students
Extra attention to Children With Special Needs
Arabic & Islamic studies chair in all the Universities
BA in Arabic & Islamic Studies courses at all universities
Full implementation of RTE Act (2009)
Minority status to Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia
Youth:
The SIO manifesto cites the disturbing trend of continuous jobless growth and makes recommendations for inclusive entrepreneurship schemes and skill development programs. It also flags corruptions in recruitment process of government jobs and demands the implementation of time-bound and transparent selection processes. It has also demanded reservation in public services as per Ranganath Misra Commission.
Human Rights:
The SIO manifesto also highlights a number of human right issues and demands the enactment of a comprehensive law to deal with violence against religious minorities and other marginalised communities. It also calls for the introduction of rehabilitation schemes for innocent youth who are falsely charged in terrorism cases.
“National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam must be carried out in a fair and transparent manner,” the SIO demanded.
Addressing the press, SIO president Labeed Shafi said that students and youth are the biggest constituency of this country and political parties must specially cater to their needs when seeking for votes. He also said that SIO has prepared a manifesto that asks political parties to invest in the future of the country. He stressed that students and youth are not going to be mollified by slogans or distracted by talk of divisive issues.
