The newly-elected president of the Jawarharlal University Students’ Union Dhananjay discusses his priorities after his victory with Ifrah Mufti. Excerpts:
What will be your priority for the next 100 days?
Our manifesto included several promises aimed at students’ welfare and preservation of the educational environment of the university. Our priority would be to demand better educational infrastructure on campus, inclusivity, fellowships and funding, increase in MCM (Merit-cum-Means) scholarships which is hardly `2000 and address the fund crunch in research. I believe we need to work on these issues on priority basis and make sure these issues are resolved in the earliest.
How difficult was the contest against the ABVP?
It goes without saying that the ABVP is extremely resourceful because the entire administration, and even certain professors, supported them during the students’ union elections whereas we had only the students backing us. Notwithstanding, the ABVP knew that they cannot win the election in JNU. Even when they were in the lead from some quarters in the initial phase of counting, they couldn’t celebrate because they knew the results already. They tried, their professors tried, but all undemocratic efforts failed.
Do you intend to address the fundamental demands of your organisation’s manifesto in the first ten days?
There are multiple stakeholders to the union. We shall ensure that meetings are conducted at every level before decisions are taken. Our major priority right now is to formulate a charter of demands after communicating with the stakeholders. We’ll try to take up issues of availability of water coolers on campus, and women safety immediately.