Half-hearted upgrade of DM University
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: January 14, 2023 -

Students hitting the streets rather than attending classes to enhance their knowledge in preparation of the challenges ahead would be last in the wish-list of the present government whose ministers and loyalists have been in a self-congratulatory mood over the return of peace in the state and notable achievements in diverse sectors.

Unlike in the past when street protests used to be the norm, there has been no serious disturbance caused to normal life other than aggrieved civil bodies threatening to launch agitation over unfulfilled demands and aspirants of state's forces enforcing bandhs/blockades, that too only for limited period, whereas during the pre-BJP government era such agitations usually lasted for days and weeks.

As such, students of DM University constituent CP Women's College carrying out protest demonstration on Thursday to denounce alleged government apathy towards their demand for appointment of regular registrar, controller of examinations and finance officer should prod the conscience of the establishment, especially the minister and officials concerned for their inability to fill the important administrative posts.

It's also an irony that the government, which has been claiming to be prioritising improvement of the education sector and contending that healthy rate of students' enrolment in government educational institutions, schools to be specific, could not make appointments to the said posts even after five years of upgrading the erstwhile DM colleges and some others to the level of a state university.

The failure to address the issue is akin to sending out the message that there is no qualified candidate for the aforementioned posts.

Therefore, the government must accord importance to mitigating grievances of the college students at the soonest possible for possibility of students of other DMU colleges deciding to hold similar demonstrations cannot be ruled out, especially considering the fact that college unions had been pursuing the same demands for the last many months along with staging symbolic protests in their respective college campuses.

On their part, the students have been demonstrating maturity with the apparent hope that the government authorities would come up with a lasting solution.

Similarly, police officers who managed to stop the protesting CP Women's College students from crossing the line displayed exemplary tolerance for such demonstrations taken out in the past in high security zones used to be generally repressed with violent force including use of water cannons and tear gas.

While both the government authorities and the students must be greatly relieved that Thursday's situation remained under control, ignoring the issue at hand and the sentiment of the students might lead to intense form of agitation as it is apparent that the students are getting increasingly restive over non-fulfilment of what seems to be legitimate demands.

Moreover, taking into account of the fact that students' agitations usually turn violent if they suspect that the government lacks compassion to hear their grievances, it is suggested that either the government find candidates eligible to take charge of the vacant posts or explain/justify the reason for the rush in establishment the university without calculating the requisite number of faculty members and administrative officials.