Real issues come to the fore at TOI roundtable

CHANDIGARH: When leaders in the fray for Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) came together to discuss issues that concern common students exactly three days before the university goes to polls, real ones emerged at the TOI roundtable held right in the heart of PU. The setting was chosen to reflect the age-old symbol of the university -Student Centre.
Healthy discussion - something that students would really like to see amongst their leaders - took place amongst the six contenders for the president and vice-president's posts, with others in the fray also joined in with their inputs.
TOI told the candidates what students wanted and sought their answers and explanations to the various allegations put forth by students - a major one being that poll promises never materialized. All six participating in the Sunday morning debate agreed that though one year was too short to implement long-term projects, whoever is elected should at least lay the foundation stone for things that will are likely to take years to complete.
Another students' peeve against leaders was indifference toward smaller problems. The bad condition of washrooms and cleanliness had respectively constituted 34% and 17% of students' responses in the TOI survey conducted a day earlier, with a major allegation being that candidates promise the moon and forget about everyday affairs that rattle students more. Candidates in the fray argued that students should themselves be more vocal and not just complain about their problems during the campaign period.
"Elected representatives of our team tried to conduct meetings with students and wardens last year. But only a few students used to turn up. Students should approach their department representatives who can, in turn, tell the office-bearers about the problems being faced by students," said Gurveer Kaur, who is fighting for the post of vice-president (National Students Union of India-Hindustan Students Association Alliance).
At the same time, Rishi Bhardwaj of National Students Association, who is contesting for the secretary's post (Students Organization of India-HIMSU-NSO-INSO alliance), said elected representatives should also spend some time and approach the common student on their own.
With a large number of students listing traffic (35%), outsiders' entry and illegal occupancy in hostels (34%) in the TOI survey conducted a day earlier, the candidates too unanimously agreed that these need to be put under focus. Even though their solutions differed, they agreed these were the real issues that needed to be taken up by members of the PU student council.
With issues like allotment of seats in hostels, all agreed that transparency was an important factor for the same. As PU has promised putting up the allocation of seats online, the leaders-in-making said this would put an end to illegal occupancy to a great extent. "The manner of recruitment of the wardens should also be put online, since it's important to have reliable persons in charge. Once that's done, illegal occupancy will also go down automatically," said Baljinder Singh, who's running for the post of president from Panjab University Students Union (PUSU-ABVP).
The Sunday morning discussion was held by taking out time from the door-to-door campaigning in hostels and Student Centre.
Who all participated
Presidential candidates | Jasmeen Kang (SOI), Baljinder Singh (PUSU), Puneet Sharma (NSUI)
Vice-presidential candidates | Preeti Negi (HIMSU), Anjali (ABVP), Gurveer Kaur (NSUI)
Others | Rishi Bhardwaj (NSO's nominee for general secretary), Swati Tiwana (INSO's nominee for joint secretary), campaigners and student leaders.
Open house
At the TOI roundtable, candidates engaged in a healthy debate and addressed the real issues that confront students during their stay on the campus. Students watching the discussion appreciated the positive attitude of candidate and said such debates were needed to bring out the real issues. A call for the open house was also raised, where candidates can present their views to their electorate similar to the US presidential debate.