SFI Central Executive Committee's News Feed

Condemn the brutal police crackdown on students from Nepal protesting against the death of a woman student at KIIT University, Odisha

Date:- 08/02/25

*Punish the culprits, Ensure Justice for the Victim*

The Central Executive Committee of Students' Federation of India strongly condemns the horrific incident reported at KIIT University, Bhubaneswar (Odisha) where a woman student from Nepal has died by suicide after being subjected to harassment at the hands of another male student from the same institute. The University not only failed to provide justice to the victim but also police were called inside campus and students were reportedly evicted from the campus.

The victim (who died by suicide) had filed complaint to the International Relations Department months ago but the University administration didn't take any institutional level actions against the culprit. Also, now reports are being furnished that the culprit is a son of an influential BJP leader back in Uttar Pradesh. Only after strong protests by the student community, the culprit was booked by the Odisha police while he was trying to flee through the airport.

This incident once again highlights how through power and influence culprits are being shielded by administration and paving way to severe injustice in cases of harrasment.

SFI stands in unflinching solidarity with the protesting students and demands immediate action against the culprit. We also demand that proper functional institutional mechanism should be at place to ensure such incidents are not repeated, grievances of students are addressed in a time-bound manner.

Sd/-
Mayukh Biswas (General Secretary)
VP Sanu (President)

❝Sorry Savarkar❞

Lyrics- Mayukh Mukherjee

Kaali topi gol sa chasma
Pen leke woh chalte the
Jaha pe dikh jati thi kagaz
Maafinama likhte the

Desh baatna desh todna
Yahi to unka kaam tha
Angrezo ke boot pe likhha
Hota unka naam tha

Bande mei tha dar
Sorry Savarkar

Naamo ajka kam to nahi hai
Leke chay nikalta hai
Lautta degree leke fir bhi
Hum students se woh darta hai

Jab jab dharna dikhta isko
Sarpe dar sa charta hai
Naam Nazafgarh ke clg ka
Savarkar woh rakhta hai

Bande mei hai dar
Sorry Damodar
Bande mei tha dar
Sorry Savarkar

Hum to padhne likhne wale
Inse naa hum darte hai
Zulmi jab jab aakh dikhaye
Hum bhi aankh milate hai

Maafinama likhne wale
Ab to thoda sharm karo
College hai woh nahi hai shakha
Savitri ko yaad karo.

Video- पैगाम ए इश्क ♥️♥️
Love in the time of HATRED ❤️🔥

Press Release
08. 02. 2025

*NAAC Bribery Scandal: BJP-RSS Nexus Exposed in Academic Corruption – UGC Chairman Must Resign.*

The Students' Federation of India (SFI) Central Executive Committee strongly condemns the shocking NAAC bribery scam, which has exposed massive corruption under BJP rule in India’s higher education system. On January 26, 2024, while the nation was celebrating Republic Day, JNU professor Rajeev Sijariya was negotiating a bribe at his on-campus residence to manipulate the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) inspection report for a private university. According to the CBI’s FIR, members of the NAAC team demanded ₹1.8 crore from Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation in Andhra Pradesh to ensure a favorable accreditation rating. After negotiations, the deal was closed for ₹28 lakh, with Sijariya pocketing a major share. His arrest by the CBI has now exposed the massive corruption that underpins NAAC accreditation, where institutions bribe officials to secure positive ratings. This scam is not an isolated case but a direct outcome of the corrupt ecosystem nurtured under BJP-RSS rule, where unqualified party loyalists are placed in top academic positions, turning institutions into centers of fraud and favoritism.

However, Sijariya is not just any professor caught in a bribery case—he is a longtime RSS-ABVP man, personally appointed and promoted by Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, the current UGC Chairman and former JNU Vice-Chancellor. Before his sudden rise in academia, Sijariya was a salesman for Kirloskar generators and later joined private business schools. In 2020, Mamidala appointed him as a faculty member in JNU, and by 2023, he had been elevated to the position of Dean under the current VC Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit. His rise was not based on academic merit but political patronage, as he had held senior positions in the ABVP, including being its president in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, in 2016. Mamidala not only ensured Sijariya’s promotion within JNU but also secured him positions in BHU’s court, AICTE’s CMAT advisory committee, NITs, IIEST Shibpur, and, most importantly, NAAC itself—the very institution he has now been caught corrupting. This case proves beyond doubt that RSS-ABVP has infiltrated educational institutions, not to improve them, but to convert them into centers of corruption and ideological control.

SFI demands the immediate resignation of Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, who as the head of NAAC and UGC, must take full responsibility for this scam. We also demand the arrest of all others involved in this bribery network, which has been operating unchecked under BJP-RSS rule. This is not just a case of one corrupt professor—it is a systematic scam that has compromised the credibility of India's education system. If institutions can buy favorable accreditation ratings, it means students are being cheated, education standards are being manipulated, and public trust is being destroyed. The NAAC accreditation process must be immediately investigated, and all corrupt officials must be removed and punished.

SFI calls upon the entire student community and progressive forces across the country to unite and resist this saffronized corruption in academia. We cannot allow RSS-backed elements to degrade our universities into hubs of political favoritism, bribery, and fraud. The fight for a transparent, fair, and merit-based education system is a fight for the future of Indian students.

Released by
VP Sanu (President)
Mayukh Biswas (General Secretary)

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/8753448687?pwd=z3VNS6g97EOpObBuvvbEp5QfWau6hL.1&omn=89180663090

🟥 First Sitaram Yechury Memorial Lecture: A Revolutionary Tribute. 🟥

It will be organized by the central executive committee of Students' Federation of India (SFI), of which Yechury was the all-India President, the event will pay homage to a leader who embodied the spirit of study and struggle.

Sitaram Yechury, former President of the JNU Students' Union (JNUSU), was not just a student leader but a fiery activist who played a crucial role during the dark days of the Emergency. His defiance against authoritarianism and his unwavering commitment to democratic rights left an indelible mark on India’s political landscape. Yechury’s journey from JNU to the forefront of the left movement was a testament to his dedication to the cause of the oppressed and exploited. He was the torchbearer to unite all progressive democratic forces against the communal forces.

SFI on the Union Education Budget

01/02/25

With a puny allocation of 0.5% of GDP and 2% of budget to the education sector, the government has unsurprisingly failed to deliver on its promise of “100 percent good quality school education” and “inclusive growth.”

The PM-Poshan scheme (which includes the mid-day meal scheme) receives an ironic increase of 0.2% in budget allocation nominally from Rs. 12467.39Cr to Rs. 12500 Cr which amounts to a ridiculous increase in 5 paisa per child when the Poshan Tracker Data for June 2024 reveals that 17 per cent or 2.7 crore children in India are underweight, 36 per cent stunted and 6 per cent wasted. A similar reduction follows for the Saksham Anganwadi scheme – a troubling indication of negligence of the severe malnutrition issues facing India.

In light of severe underutilization of funds, the increased allocation of funds from Rs 73,008Cr to Rs 78,572Cr to school education can only be welcomed with skepticism.

The government has allocated Rs 20,000 crore for a private-sector-driven Research, Development, and Innovation initiative, announced in the July 2024 Budget, to encourage scientific advancements while public schemes for the same have witnessed a drop of 7.89% from Rs 355Cr to Rs 327Cr. This highlights the growing orientation of scientific and technological innovations towards the needs of private capital and market and away from societal concerns.

The 2025-26 budget allocations for higher education show a mere 5% increase from Rs 47619.77 Cr to Rs 50077.95 Cr in nominal terms, which when accounted for 5.22% inflation rate reveals no change at all. In fact, the share of Higher Education in the budget is less than 1% this year and the estimates paint an even bleaker picture once we look at the expenditure breakdown.

In the budget we are seeing dilution of serious academic spending that is now diverted to an unknown territory of "Indian Knowledge Systems", where budgetary allocation rose from a 10 Cr to 50 Cr. Most certainly an ideological move towards sanskritised versions of pseudo science and Sangh versions of distorted history. While the World Class Institutions scheme, aimed at promoting “affordable world class academic and research facilities” has seen a disastrous reduction of over 73% from Rs. 1800 Cr. to Rs. 475.12 Cr. The government’s aim to forge a nation in its vision of a distorted antiquity at the cost of the future of over 43 million students enrolled in higher education could not have been clearer. It seeks to undermine the progress in academics and research India has made so far to the extent that it becomes impossible to be at par with the developed nations in this respect.

The promise of additional infrastructure provision to the IITs is nothing short of a hoax given the 7% slash in capital expenditure from Rs. 11.06Cr in 2024-25 to 10.27 Cr. in 2025-26. This ruse comes in the wake of crumbling infrastructure in not only the IITs and IIMs but all other Central universities which find no mention in the Finance Minister’s Speech.

As the fund allocation to the UGC remains 47% less as compared to 2023-24, more than 3% of total Grants to Central Universities will go as repayment of principal under and interest of HEFA loans. This situation is no different in the case of Grants to the IITs, IISERs, and IIMs. The increasing share of HEFA loans from 372 Cr in 2024-25 to 462 Cr in 2025-26 for the Central universities traces the increasing influx of private capital into public funded universities, posing the serious risk of compromising the autonomy of these institutions.

With the NEP, the government is accelerating its push to commodify education, making it more accessible to the wealthier sections of society while fostering an environment that excludes students from marginalized backgrounds from publicly funded education.

Sd/-
Mayukh Biswas (General Secretary)
VP Sanu (President)

https://studentstruggle.in/mitochondria-the-unsung-heroes-of-aging-research/

Student Struggle
The Journal of SFI
www.studentstruggle.in
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SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA
CONTRIBUTE TO CUBA

REPUBLIC DAY WISHES 🇮🇳
"Reclaim The Republic"

"Reclaim The Republic"
Reading Preamble Of The Constitution Of India.

अखिल भारतीय हिंदी भाषी वैचारिक प्रशिक्षण शिविर ।
14 -16 फरवरी 2025
HKS भवन, नई दिल्ली

RSS and Hindu Mahasabha are the traitors of this country.

-Subhash Chandra Bose

🛑Out Now

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The Journal of SFI
www.studentstruggle.in

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Students' Federation of India (SFI)
Central Executive Committee
Press Release
Date: 07/01/2025


*Reject the Draft University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment and Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025.*

The draft University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment and Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025, released on Monday (January 6, 2025) by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is another attempt to centralise and corporatise our campuses.

Already the governments in several Opposition-ruled States such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala were on a conflict with the Governors — also Chancellors of several State-run universities — over appointment of Vice-Chancellors. Now the revised rules provide state Governors with increased authority in the selection of Vice-Chancellors. It is quite evident that the process of shortlisting candidates for interview and final selection is very opaque: there's no clarity about whoever will be called.

Also the new draft regulations for the first time allow industry experts and public sector veterans to be considered for the role. This marks a departure from the longstanding practice of exclusively appointing academicians and introduces corporate culture in academic areana. It will be massive dilution of the quality of faculty by doing away with specialisation in a core discipline and the recruitment gives 100% weightage to the selection committee which is subjective in nature and does not give any credit to academic qualification, research publications and teaching experience. It also shows a shift in focus from cutting edge research to merely reiterating existing knowledge: since core competence is done away with.

In this draft, there is no mention of the maximum hours to be put in for direct teaching in a week for teachers: a dangerous ploy to increase workload and to reduce jobs. It will affect the quality of teaching.

In the case of Promotion, there is too much emphasis given on activities which have no direct bearing on teaching and research in the Clause 3.8. Government is withdrawing its own responsibility from research and paves the way for the different private actors in the name of angel or venture funds. It will drive the whole education system towards market oriented research. There is no clarity about 'angel or venture funds.' It can lead towards saffronisation. Also there is a requirement of publications for direct recruitment to Associate Professor in the University departments has increased from 7 to 8, thus adding to the already heavy requirement in the existing Regulation. This draft keeps silent on reservation of teaching posts also.

In this situation, the Central Executive Committee of the Students’ Federation of India reject the new draconian draft and urge the academic community to come forward to save our higher education. We call upon the student community to protest against this by burning the draft notification.

Sd/-
VP Sanu (President)
Mayukh Biswas (General Secretary)

Reschedule UGC NET exams coinciding with Sankranti and Pongal to more inclusive dates, ensuring all candidates can participate.
-SFI

Remembering
Savitribai Phule✊

Happy New Year ❤️

From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Kutch to Tripura, many comrades have lost their lives and gone to jail while fighting the struggle for students' rights and showing an alternative direction. This fight will continue in the coming days. Especially in the country's toughest times, the challenge is even more daunting under the fascist regime of RSS.

SFI@55

2024 December 30
SFI 55th foundation day
Study & Struggle !!

Speak Out. Speak Loud.

Fight for Gender Justice and equal rights.

Date:- 13.12.24
Place- Kolkata

REMEMBERING
BIRSA MUNDA

Remembering the indigenous leader of the people's resistance against British Imperialism.

NOVEMBER 14
CHILDREN'S DAY

EDUCATION FOR ALL
STOP DROP OUT
STOP CHILD LABOUR

SAVE SCHOOLS
SAVE EDUCATION

* UDISE Plus 2021-22 रिपोर्ट के अनुसार भारत में ड्रॉपआउट दर 12.6 प्रतिशत है।

* भारत का शिक्षा पर खर्च सकल घरेलू उत्पाद का केवल 3.5% है, जबकि विकसित देशों में यह औसत 5.8% है। यह राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति 2020 में उल्लिखित लक्ष्य से काफी कम है, जिसमें भारत का शिक्षा बजट सकल घरेलू उत्पाद का 6% होने की आकांक्षा थी।

स्कूलों को बचाएं
भविष्य बचाएं


****

* As per the UDISE plus 2021-22 report the dropout rate in India is at 12.6 per cent.

* India’s spending on education is just 3.5% of its GDP compared to an average 5.8% in developed countries. This falls significantly below the target outlined in the National Education Policy 2020, which aspired for India's education budget to be at 6% of the GDP.

SAVE SCHOOLS
SAVE FUTURE

भारत दुनिया में सबसे खराब शैक्षिक संकटों में से एक का सामना कर रहा है।

भारत में 1.297 करोड़ से अधिक बच्चे स्कूल से बाहर हैं।

स्कूलों को बचाएं
भविष्य बचाएं

****

India continues to face one of the worst educational crises in the world.

Over 12.97 million children are out of school In India.

SAVE SCHOOLS
SAVE EDUCATION

* 51,000 government schools shut down in 2018-19

* More than 20,000 schools closed in India during 2020-21; number of teachers declined by 1.95%

SAVE SCHOOLS
SAVE FUTURE

Students' Federation of India
Central Executive Committee
Press Release 17-10-2024

*The SFI Central Executive Committee condemns and expresses concern over the prolonged delay in the release of the UGC NET results.*

The incapacity of NTA to properly administer an examination at the national level was made clear from its starting. One of the latest episodes among this was the cancellation of the June 2024 UGC NET exam due to paper leak and other irregularities, along with the cancellation of all other important exams this year. The test was subsequently rescheduled and held in August 2024. However even after nearly two months since the conduct of the exams, the NTA and UGC still continue to show signs of inefficiency evident from their failure to announce the results. The prolonged delay is causing immense anxiety and stress among the student community as their academic future is at stake since the UGC has already declared that UGC NET would be used for PhD admissions. The situation is worsened by the fact that many universities are approaching their PhD application deadlines.

SFI CEC demands the Ministry of Education and the NTA to release the UGC NET results immediately.

Released by,
V P Sanu (President, SFI)
Mayukh Biswas (General Secretary, SFI)

Above all, always be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world. This is the most beautiful quality in a revolutionary.
-CHE

"Bombs and pistols don't make a revolution. The sword of revolution is sharpened on the whetting stone of ideas"

Remembering Shaheed
BHAGAT SINGH
On His Birth Anniversary.
Inquilab Zindabad ✊

RALLY FOR DEMOCRACY✊

Victory Celebration on the Withdrawal of Illegal Ban of PSF and for Revocation of Arbitrary Suspension of Ramadas Prini Sivanandan.

https://x.com/SFI_CEC/status/1837383132988793187?t=SZa3vaYzR9crwyh8UtvSPQ&s=35

Press Release
17-09-2024
Students' Federation of India, Central Executive Committee.

*Huge Victory for Student Movement:*
Ban on Progressive Students' Forum (PSF) and anti-student Honour Code at TISS is revoked.

The Central Executive Committee of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) celebrates the revocation of the ban on the Progressive Students' Forum (PSF) and the revision of the anti-student Honour Code by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), a university headed by the union education minister Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan as chairman. This victory comes in direct result to the organised students’ resistance, and marks a milestone moment for the student movement and an inspiration for the student mobilisations in other deemed to be universities.

Following the arbitrary suspension of Ramadas Prini Sivanandan, a Dalit PhD scholar and SFI Central Executive Committee member, the ban on PSF, imposed on August 19, 2024, designated the organization as an "unauthorized and illegal forum" and accused it of "misleading students" and "defaming the institute." The ban on PSF was more significant as it represented the most active student organizational experiment among deemed universities in India, which strongly opposed the anti-student policies of both BJP-led union government and university administration. The new Honour Code, introduced shortly after, explicitly prohibited students from engaging in "political, anti-establishment, or unpatriotic discussions, demonstrations, or dharnas." Both measures were met with widespread resistance from the student community. These attempts were a direct effort to suppress students questioning the BJP-led government's policies.

Following the ban on PSF at TISS, the SFI Central Executive Committee had called for a nationwide protest against the same and appealed to all sections of society to intervene in defense of campus democracy. The response from other student organizations, farmers' groups, trade unions, and civil society was immense. We acknowledge that these achievements are crucial steps forward; however, it is essential to remain vigilant. The SFI applauds the courage and determination of all students at TISS, especially the members of PSF, who mobilized to challenge the authoritarian actions of the BJP-led union government. In solidarity with all students fighting for their rights in other universities, we celebrate these significant victories while reaffirming our commitment to continue fighting for academic freedom, social justice, and the protection of student rights.

Released by
V P Sanu (President, SFI)
Mayukh Biswas (General Secretary, SFI)

"Once SFI, always SFI"

Indian Campuses
Remembering
Comrade
Sitaram Yechury

18 September 2024

"SFI All India leadership pays homage to Comrade Sitaram Yechury."

ADIEU
COMRADE
Sitaram Yechury✊

Students' Federation of India dips its banner in honour of our beloved comrade, former All India President of SFI and General Secretary of CPI(M), Sitaram Yechury.