DEMANDING roll back of huge fee hike, withdrawal of choice based credit system till availability of proper infrastructure and human resources, against victimisation of innocent students and for restoration of direct student central association elections, Students’ Federation of India (SFI) staged a hunger strike on April 7 on Himachal Pradesh University campus. The protest was later extended by a day to mount pressure on the university authorities and to expose the state government. It is important to mention here that this hill state has a population of around 68 lakhs. Himachal Pradesh University is the only state university which is imparting multi-disciplinary education to students in the state. This is losing its sheen day by day for which both the BJP and the Congress governments are responsible by way of refusing to provide ample budget for the university. These governments have been continuously mounting pressure on the university to generate its own financial resources by way of imposing huge fee on the poor students. At the same time, the university authorities under the corrupt vice-chancellor ADN Bajpai is leaving no stone unturned in increasing the fee by huge proportions. SFI has been opposing this huge fee hike. The state government tried to crush the movement of the students by using the police force. Despite this, the movement of SFI has been successful in putting pressure on the state government to constitute a committee to look into the fee hike. The state government constituted a high-power committee under a retired judge of High Court and asked it to submit a report within three months. The committee has submitted its report in the stipulated time frame but the government is reluctant to make this report public, for which the SFI has launched another struggle. SFI is demanding withdrawal of CBCS which was hastily introduced in the name of RUSA on the suggestion of Bajpai. It is being introduced without any proper preparation by the government and without ample debate among various stakeholders. The state government has not constituted the State Council for Higher Education (SCHE), State Project Directorate and Technical Support on time which was mandatory under the RUSA and jumped all of a sudden to the second phase of RUSA. This has ruined the career of lakhs of young students of the state. Students in around 102 colleges in the geographically tough hill state are in a dilemma on what to study; teachers are in a dilemma on what to teach. The students are not sure that after three years, they will get a degree or a diploma. If it is a degree, then what will be its validity in other universities as it is not a credit and grade based degree? Out of the 102 colleges in the state, a majority is running short of teaching staff, short of infrastructure like classrooms, laboratories, computer labs, etc. In this backdrop, how will CBCS function? The constitution of active and dynamic SCHE is the need of hour, for which the SFI is struggling. In the light of above long pending demands, the state government and university authorities, instead of paying heed to students’ problems, have banned direct election to students union in the state for the last three years. In the absence of direct election, students are not in position to ask for the requisite facilities in the university and college campuses. The lame indirectly elected union is incapable to raise the pertinent issues of the students before the authorities. SFI has demanded free travelling facilities for female day scholars in the university buses but the authority is reluctant. How shameful is it, on one hand the corrupt vice-chancellor is using three new luxurious vehicles for his family and himself for which the university is paying all charges including fuel, petrol and maintenance, but are unable to provide free travelling for girl students. It is also important to mention here that throughout the state there is free travelling facility for all students in HRTC buses. SFI has been continuously building movement for the justice to the common students in the state but the university authority and the state government are playing a foul game by victimising SFI leaders by registering false cases and then putting them under suspension from the university. Therefore, revoke of rustication of seven SFI leaders in 2014 from H P University is among the major demands of the present agitation. Participation of Girl Students Participation of girl students in the struggle was tremendous. They took equal part in all activities, from hunger strike to ‘nukkad natak’, dharna, rally, hostel meeting and boycotting dinner in hostels. The level of anger among the girls is tremendous because SFI is demanding free travelling facilities for girl students, construction of new girls’ hostel and active gender sensitisation committee. House examination is going on but all the students are proving the motto of ‘study and struggle’ true by way sitting on hunger strike and attending their house examinations. On the 26th day of the chain hunger strike, a 24-hour dharna was organised on the campus in which 280 girls and boys participated enthusiastically. On May 5, a massive rally was organised on the campus. As part of the protest, 109 boys and girls courted arrest on May 7 at Scandal Point, Mall Road in Shimla. On May 8, the protest reached the vice-chancellor’s residence where a dharna was organised by more than 80 comrades. An open session was organised on May 14. The gathering of more than 150 students was addressed by Mayank Viswas, SFI All India Joint Secretary. Repression on Students The university authority is victimising the student leaders by registering false cases and using police force to crush the movement. On May 20, when the students organised a bhoj rally and went to serve food to the vice-chancellor and others, the VC put pressure on the registrar to file a case. Five comrades including SFI state president, secretary and campus secretary were arrested. Dialogue with Authority During dialogues, it seemed that the authority is not interested to settle the students’ problems. The VC is shirking to face the students and in the negotiation, he is nominating dean of studies and dean of students’ welfare who do not have power and vision or clarity on the memorandum containing 48 demands submitted by the SFI. Even the district administration tried to mediate. A delegation of SFI leaders met the Chancellor and Governor Acharya Dev Vrat on May 6 at Raj Bhawan and apprised him of the demands. The present vice-chancellor has proved to be incompetent and corrupt. His term of last five years has proved even worse. He has brazenly befooled the consecutive two governments led by BJP and Congress. He has been misusing his power. Bajpai is the person who had been asked to relinquish the post of VC of APS University, Rewa in 2007. There were 18 criminal charges levelled against him in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, of which 10 were proved. Similar corrupt practices are being practised by him on the campus in HP University.