KOLKATA: The student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), has decided to open 500 units in colleges and universities in West Bengal and train 10,000 women students in self-defence techniques.
The organisation has also set a target of having 1.5 lakh members within a month across the state.
The ABVP’S Bengal unit has also planned to start an agitation in colleges demanding students’ union elections.
Saptarshi Sarkar, the organisation’s state secretary, said, “No students’ union election has been held for the past two years in colleges and universities across the state. The Trinamool cadres are showing high-handedness and manipulating the admission process in colleges. We will stage demonstrations and submit memorandums to college principals from July 2.’’
Two years ago, the state education department decided to form students’ councils in colleges. But the decision is yet to be implemented. The last students’ election was held in 2017.
A section of students has raised questions about the fate of student politics in colleges. State education minister Partha Chatterjee had said that where the unions’ term was over, the teachers, with the help of students, will continue the activities of the students’ unions.
Saptarshi said that in Bengal, membership would be increased in two phases—from July 1 to July 10, and from August 10 to August 20.
"The state stands among the highest in crime against women. We will train 10,000 women students in self-defence. They will be taught martial arts skills,’’ he said.