THE 19th Delhi state conference of SFI was concluded successfully on January 15-16 in Comrade Vijendra Sharma Manch and Martyr Comrade Shakeel Ahmad Baksh Hall. The hall of the conference was named after Shakeel Ahmad Baksh who was killed when he intervened in a case of eve teasing in Jamia in 1996. Comrade Vijendra’s name needs no introduction for anyone in students’ and teachers’ movement.

A rally and public meeting was organised on January 15,  in North Campus, Delhi University. This rally was also joined by the flag march of 15th all India conference that has started from Shimla. Sanjeev Kumar, deputy general secretary, Janwadi Lekhak Sangh, V Sivadasan, SFI all India president, Vikram Singh, SFI all India joint secretary, Suresh Sarwal, SFI HP secretary (who is leading the flag march) and Sunand, SFI Delhi secretary addressed the public meeting. V Sivadasan ended his speech with the hope that ‘red stars illuminating the hearts of all the SFI activists will soon illuminate the thousands of students of Delhi.’ This he said ‘is possible only through tireless work, determination and consistent intervention on students’ issues’. The public meeting was followed by a rally across the campus, with various students holding colourful scrolls in their hands. One particular scroll with portion of Comrade P Sundarayya’s speech to the second all India conference of SFI was shining the brightest. It read: “I want our younger generation wherever they are, to stand for human decency, to stand to build a new society.”

The conference began with the hoisting of the flag by state president Prateek. A three-member presidium consisting of Prateek, Srabani Chakraborty and Prashant Mukherjee was elected to conduct the proceedings. V Sivadasan inaugurated the delegate session. Representatives of various fraternal organisations namely CITU, JMS, DYFI and DTF gave their greetings to the conference in this session. The secretary placed the political-organisational report on behalf of the outgoing state committee. SFI in Delhi has undergone a process of organisational rebuilding over the last 3-4 years, in the backdrop of a disruption in 2012. The report highlighted the positive interventions on part of the organisation on various issues in the period since the last conference, marginal improvement in the state committee functioning and some expansion in new areas as well. It needs to be also noted that we have been able to partially break the stagnation in membership by crossing 3500 (2015-16, not final) mark. However, the report also self critically noted that the efforts have been far less than what were required in the rapidly evolving political situation of Delhi. Delhi has emerged as the centre of neo-liberal academic reforms over the last few years, which is resulting in direct impact on the educational system. The report also called for focus on developing struggles on the issues related to the daily life of students, apart from the movements on the policy issues. Local level interventions, development of units, political education and renewed focus on agit-prop and publications are key to the development of cadres. The report called for prioritised work towards the development of strong units, without ignoring the scope for expansion in diverse educational sectors.

91 delegates were divided into five groups for discussion on the report. 23 delegates participated in the discussion with sharp interventions and positive suggestions on the direction of the work. Most of the suggestions, along with clarifications on the organisation by the secretary were added to the report and the report was passed unanimously by the conference.

The credentials report highlighted a positive aspect that more than 60 percent of the delegates were of 18 years age. University/sector wise composition was as follows: JNU (21), DU (37), Jamia (8), SAU (1), AUD (2), TERI (1), Ghaziabad Dental College (1), Chaudhary Charan Singh University (6), SOL (1) and state committee (13). Gender wise composition of the delegates was as follows: Female (34) and Male (57).

The conference elected a 25 member state committee, which in turn has elected the following nine member state secretariat: Prashant Mukherjee (president), Prateek (vice-president), Dipsita Dhar (vice-president), Sunand (secretary), Suresh Garimella (joint secretary),Omair Shaquib (joint secretary), Srabani Chakraborty, Satarupa Chakraborty and Ashique Ali T. The conference also elected four delegates and one observer for the all India conference. It ended with the spirited song of ‘We shall overcome’ in various languages and amidst thunderous slogans.