New Delhi: National Students’ Union of India led a protest March from NSUI head office to the Parliament building. The protest march was held under the leadership of NSUI National President Neeraj Kundan, demanding a vaccination policy for all the students across the country before opening any of the educational institutions and conducting any examinations. Other key demands of the protest included safely conducting the examinations, compensating for the lost academic year of the students and focusing on the future course. Another focus of the protest was on the failure of the Modi government to declare any relief packages for the students’ fraternity even after 1.5 years of the pandemic has passed. Nothing more than fake promises for the students were made this government leaving the students in a confused and helpless state, claimed NSUI.
The National President in his press statement said that, “The central government has totally turned a blind eye towards the students and even after NSUI’s regular efforts to draw the government’s attention towards all the crucial issues related to the students, the Modi government was insensitive as usual. After the second covid wave there was a lesson to be learnt for the central government but no essential steps have been taken yet.”
The national president further added that, “there are still a lot of students who have not been vaccinated and will soon appear in various examinations which will put them at the risk of getting infected. This situation is resulting in the demand of postponing of the exams, and postponement is certainly not a permanent solution to the problem. The only permanent solution is to prioritise students for vaccination so that they can continue their studies in a safe and secure environment. Students are a crucial part of the society and the future of this country, hence their issues are as important as any other issue to be discussed in the parliament.”
As the NSUI protesters marched towards the parliament building, the police tried to stop them through barricading, where slogans like “chatra virodhi, Narendra Modi” were raised. NSUI’s protest march also intended to convey a message not just to the Modi government but also to the elected members of the parliament, that issues related to the students and their vaccination must be discussed in the house. The student organisation has been raising several issues during the lockdown, from promoting the students to their safeguards and now hoping for a concrete policy to be rolled out before the parliament session ends.
(EW News)
