Yaronsho Ngalung
To enlarge the democratic space in JNU
Election Manifesto
I am contesting this election as an independent candidate for the post of President. However, being an independent candidate does not mean that I do not have any political understanding.
I would like to share with you my social and political concerns and if I can persuade you that these concerns are genuine and need to be addressed urgently then perhaps I can persuade you to give your valuable vote.
I have just one request. Please read this Manifesto carefully and give serious thought to the issues it seeks to raise. I am very proud to belong to JNU, as almost every student is. I think ours is a unique campus because it has a long tradition of democratic debates and discussions and exchange of views between students and also within the classrooms.
However, have you ever thought that perhaps there are some voices that never get heard? We read history of India but it does not include any history of the North east; we read political science but we are not taught about the democratic institutions of indigenous peoples that have survived and evolved; we learn about the women’s movement but I wonder how many students know that Manipur has been celebrating women’s day (NUPI LAN) and it is an official holiday.
It is not only the North east which is missing from the syllabus. There is almost no mention of the socio-economic and political movements representing the aspirations of the religious minorities such as the Muslim, the movements for self-determination in the Naga areas, Assam and in other North east areas, Kashmir or even Tamils, and voices of Dalit movement or even the women’s movement are all missing from our formal academics. I think it is imperative that we should re-evaluate the syllabus so that the view of India or the world is not confined to studying the world or India from an elite perspective.
My immediate concerns will be:
1. Implementation of the XIth plan which includes expansion of numbers of hostels, new shopping complex and new cafeteria etc.
2. Setting up an Action Committee to look into the grievances of students belonging to Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes, especially the problem of the women students.
3. Ensure greater transparency in the admission policy so that the SCs/STs students get their fair share of seats and fight against insidious dereservation policy.
4. Merit-cum-Means scholarships for all needy students including students belonging to the SCs/STs and to PH categories. MCM should be extended to PH.D students as well.
5. Enforce the scheme for fellowships for SCs/STs students at the M.PHIL and PH.D under the Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship programme
6. Ensuring the CSIR fellowships are disbursed in time.
7. Addressing the special problems of foreign students.
8. Supporting and promoting awareness about issues arising from gender discrimination and human rights violation.
9. Promoting innovative and creative dialoque between students from different regions and religions.
10. Promoting awareness about the special vulnerability of Muslim students, especially Kashmris students in the context of the war against terrorism and Islamophobia.
11. Initiating rain water harvesting to make the campus more eco-friendly.
12. Ensuring more books in the libraries and computers in the centres.
13. Look into the condition of the migrant labours in the campus.
14. Promoting transparency, accountability and good governance in the University.
KUKNALIM
