Outgoing Panjab University president could only meet half of his party’s manifesto promises

Chief among their manifesto was procuring funds for new hostels; with the hostel allotment moving online, there is more transparency in the process which was also in their manifesto

Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) came into power after Ayush Khatkar was made Panjab University Campus Student Council (PUCSC) president for 2022-23, and to their credit, CYSS has been able to deliver on many of the promises made in their 2022-23 manifesto but about half of them are still to be fulfilled.

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Chief among their manifesto was procuring funds for new hostels. With the hostel allotment moving online, there is more transparency in the process which was also in their manifesto. The university has also appointed a counsellor for the mental well-being of students, which CYSS had included. The reopening of various department canteens and the Coffee House at the Students Centre has also been touted as one of their successes.

But around half of the promises are yet to be fulfilled. Student council members are not ex-officio members of the senate and syndicate. CYSS had said that permanent faculty will be brought to all departments but vacancies are still there as pointed out by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in their recent visit to the campus.

While the campus was gearing up for the NAAC visit and beautification work was carried out throughout the varsity, CYSS has claimed it their own even though the work was done by the university for the NAAC visit, which happens when the grade is renewed every seven years.

Speaking about this, the outgoing PUCSC president Ayush Khatkar said, “The manifesto this year is open-ended. Whatever we couldn’t achieve last year will be worked on this year as well, even as we have fulfilled over 90% of our last year’s promises.”

While also speaking about the hostel allocation fund, Khatkar detailed his role in procuring the grant and said, “Before issuing the manifesto, we had met with the chief minister Bhagwant Mann and apprised him of the problem. After receiving the green signal from the CM’s side we introduced this promise. Later, after the election the proposal on how the funds will be utilised was made while working with cabinet minister Meet Hayer. There was a delay in formulating the plan with the engineers of PU regarding how the funds will be utilised but after meeting the CM again the move was sanctioned.”

This year, CYSS’s promise to provide free coaching for the Union Public Service Commission exam and judiciary exam has also been researched the same way as per Khatkar and a MOU will be signed between the Punjab government and PU, and a scholarship will be provided to PU students applying for this.

There is a recent trend of parties wooing voters with promises that are practical and easier to achieve as students demand more accountability from the parties. Indian National Student Organisation (INSO) had donated ten washing machines for PU hostels. Speaking about this, INSO PU in-charge Rajat Nain said, “Students demand more accountability from us rather than just promises. Such gestures are appreciated more.”