When the student Gymkhana should have been concentrating on developing strategies to throw a great show in next golden jubilee year of IIT Kanpur,it has been caught in a controversy that whether the name Techkriti should be changed or not.(Our prez says that its a new festival).
It is quite clear that a large chunk of student body is not supporting the senate and few went on rage after gymkhana passed the bill, mired with controversy since the inception of the bill.
Why suddenly this outburst of sentiments in campus, why this strife.
As a General Body member I have all the right to criticize Sujania’s decision to form a committee without any representative of people (aam junta).There was hardly any senator in the committee(apart from convenor) ,so only the executives view were taken into consideration and aam junta concerns were left out. The senators are meant to express the view of the aam junta.
During the tenure of Sujania the senate decided to merge the two festivals ,The senate has authority to decide fate of megabucks and Techkriti because the junta has trusted the senate that their concerns will be given due respect by senate and not because junta feel that the senators are intellectually more capable. The senate is a body representing the views and concerns of people.
But the senators feel that the junta has vested them with the power to decide on their behalf, this notion is dangerous and very detrimental to the legitimacy and the authority the senate commands.
Many people vote on the basis of caste because they feel that their leaders will voice the concern of their community, and the leaders do so(A Schedule caste leader speaks mainly for SC only). This attitude of leaders is bad ,but our senate is much worse than that .They represent particular electorate but speak only for themselves. They don’t speak junta’s voice but expresses what their stand is.
Today I heard that a senator has asked the convener asking him not to reconvene the meeting because no senator was against the decision and only junta is opposing, so why call another meeting.
I don’t know the name of that senator but few things can be concluded about him:
1. He has been elected unopposed because people like him who don’t respect junta’s view can’t get elected. (not her because all the three female senators were elected)
2. He must be thinking of himself as too smart and he feels that junta can’t decide what is right for them and what he decides is right for the junta.
Whoever you are, own some moral responsibility and please resign, you are not supposed to be senator.
For all those who are not aware of the seat allotment to different programs let me inform you that the ratio of the size of a batch and senators from that batch should be 100.Our seniors made this wonderful piece of rule to ensure that the senators are capable of reaching the entire electorate and capable of raising voice in the senate for the junta .But neither the President nor any senator has tried to know what the take of junta is on this issue.
This is a golden opportunity for all those senators who want to contest next Presidential elections to speak for junta and not for themselves, try to meet people and I can guarantee, you will not have to request any idiots and few vote pimps to propose or second you .I have seen this happening with a guy who had raised voice for lottery during hall allocation, he became so much popular later on that nobody dared to contest elections against him, after all who wants his/her security money to be confiscated. Senators, this is a golden opportunity to meet people, know their concern and regain the lost authority of gymkhana. Vote in the interest of junta and not the in the interest of self declared elite members.
I don’t know what will be senate’s final decision, however I will respect any decision if it is taken in fair manner and without any abuse of power. But any decision they take must be acceptable to junta, that means either they convince junta which will be possible if junta buys their rationality behind their decision.
Will like to sign off with this lines..People should understand that what is right remains right.............even if the majority thinks otherwise.........and an oppurtunist politician cares about majority only at times of election and exploits loops in rule at rite time.....These lines are not entirely my creation but I do support the view expressed in these lines and my experience so far has tested this view .
yeah.. it explores model guideline for people who seek political edge in future gymkhana elections. I compliment you for putting black as black n white as white.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts about the issue can be read at: http://blog.abhinavjain.net/
ReplyDelete@Anil
ReplyDeleteSince it is your personal blog you have all the right to criticize anything, and I respect it. But after reading it I think I must bring some correct facts to your notice which might help you in redefining your criticism.
To the best of the my knowledge the committee was formed by the senate while the discussion was going over the poor academic performance of students of IITK. The mandate was to look into the various activities organized by Students' Gymkhana and come up with constructive suggestions. Senate which consists of senators & executives(who are also representative of student community as they are directly elected by voting) nominated us along with two senators: convener & finance convener banking on the experience. Moreover, other people related to various issues were also invited to meetings. The committee met regularly and opined over many issues and then came up with certain recommendations after every meeting which were forwarded to senate and it was duly informed to the community regarding the report presentation. I think you will agree with me that calling general body meeting is the only big thing then having a discussion in the senate meeting which was always open for the general body members.
I think technically and philosophically too community was never stopped to provide their opinion and were always provided with a platform and were expected to come forward with their views.
Look, people can always come with lame reasons 'we didn't read your mail.' Hey, even after communicating to you in the best way considering all other constraints students are not interested to come forward and want to shout the criticism from the rooms.
I think this might help you to at least get some new light regarding the implementation of the first change.
@ Sujania
ReplyDeleteI understand that collecting views from everyone is not feasible,but there are proper channel(like NG) in existent which you could have used to get first hand opinion of people.Every time the excuse is given that senate meeting was open,why are you complaining now?But since nobody is stopping someone from committing mistakes,that doesnt entitle him to commit mistakes.
The senate is a policy making body and not executive body( here also we have parliamentary form of democracy),so it must be open to junta views(which can be posted on NG)and criticism.A democratic body enjoys legitimacy only if it is open and integrated.And all this problem is arising because senators are not playing their role.If I could travel back in time then I would like to create awareness among junta about the roles senators has to play before announcing elections.
Ammu is absolutely right when he says that the senate is a policy making body and not the executive. This is a very important distinction which perhaps has been lost on the senators and the general body. And I also agree that the senators should always represent the views of junta, even if it conflicts with their views of the situation. A senator is a representative and not somebody we elect to make decisions on our behalf. And in any case, 1500 signatures warrant a referendum. This issue has reached such a head that a referendum is the only solution. Let the people decide.
ReplyDelete