Shri Samir Saraff, expresses his concern over the incidents of violence and indiscipline
Shri Samir Saraff, Chairman, Standing Committee on Education, MCC Chamber of Commerce and Industry expresses his concern over the incidents of violence and indiscipline across various colleges of West Bengal and views that in most cases these follow as a corollary of student politics to gain control of students’ union through elections. Students’ Unions are meant to aid in the core function of the colleges, i.e. to impart education to create men and women for tomorrow. But unfortunately, these bodies and the politics surrounding them end up hampering if not altogether negating this core activity. Shri Saraff opines that many meritorious teachers and students find it nearly impossible to survive in such an environment marred by continuous physical and verbal violence and indiscipline where peaceful classes are held as an exception rather as a rule and unless the situation is set right at the earliest, a generation of students will be lost as it had been in the past, causing irreparable damage to the individual, family, state and nation.
Shri Saraff says that we cannot do away with elected Students’ Union as it is neither desirable nor necessary because they can be an asset to the college and hone leadership qualities in students. The experience at St. Xavier’s College, IIT/IIM etc shows that if handled properly, these bodies can be free of violence and indiscipline and yet be of immense help in different activities of the college.
Elaborating on what needs to be done, he mentions that we should take the politics and the election process out of the campuses and into the cyber world such that nobody is allowed to indulge in any political activity like sloganeering, canvassing or putting up posters or graffiti in the college campus. It should all move to the internet by making use of designated websites, chat rooms and social networking sites. In this regard, Shri Saraff suggests that the Higher Education Department or the Higher Education Council can consider setting up dedicated website for this purpose with separate notice boards and chat rooms etc. for each college.
He also suggests that the nomination form should be available online. Completed forms should not be submitted and scrutinized in the college, but in separate location like the BDO’s office or the DSP’s office or maybe even the local Thana. After scrutiny, a list of eligible candidates should be put up on the website of the Education Department or the Higher Education Council. The college principal, teachers and website should be kept out of the election process as far as possible; otherwise they will be at the receiving end of the students’ ire.
Shri Saraff is of the opinion that voting should not take place in the college premises but in some other location and the class list along with the photographs shall help form the electoral roll. The students should be asked to carry the college identity card along with another photo ID card issued by the government like EPIC, driving license, etc. As far as possible the recommendations of the Lyngdoh committee should be followed and students with poor marks and attendance should be filtered out.
Along with these measures, a proper grievance redressal mechanism should be put in place to address the issues/complaints of the students in a time bound manner. It should also be accessible online and comprise of multiple layers in order to enable the student to escalate the complaint if he/she is not satisfied with the solutions provided by the concerned authority. In this context, it is to be noted that actual or perceived grievances of the students are taken up by student leaders of all hues and colours and used as a pretext to vitiate the academic environment by indulging in violence, sloganeering, gheraos and indiscipline. The government should also take immediate steps to appoint all vacant posts of teachers and principals in all colleges and a proper plan should be drawn to upgrade infrastructure in a time bound manner.
Shri Saraff views that if these steps are implemented after proper deliberations, West Bengal colleges shall become free of violence and the academic environment shall improve and we shall again become the preferred destination for students from all over India as we were 4 decades ago.
For this to be successful, all political parties should come together and form a consensus for the sake of the youth of the state of West Bengal in the centenary year of Swami Vivekananda. | 
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