SFI Gears Up For A String Of Protests, Campaigns

Student Struggle Editorial Team

On June 18, amid pandemic restrictions, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI)’s Extended Secretariat had their first ever online meeting. SFI has been extremely active with its organisational activities ever since the very sudden, unplanned lockdown was implemented by the central government. It has been organising and leading multiple protests and campaigns against the many issues that have been plaguing the public, particularly the country’s students. One of the most important one among them was the nation-wide protest that took place on May 20, against a couple of major issues, including India’s extreme digital divide and the government’s decision to conduct examinations online. Student Struggle had done a detailed report of it, which can be read here. This is apart from the many other protest demonstrations, mostly online, organised by the various units of the organisations in different parts of the country.

In the meeting that took place on June 18, a couple of decisions were taken by the organisation. It has planned a string of protests against the many anti-people, anti-student policies and ways of the government, to be organised in the following days — the details of which we present below.

On 22 June, 2020, the CEC of SFI and DYFI jointly organised a protest demonstration against racial attacks in the United States of India and especially 46-year-old black man George Floyd’s brutal murder by a white police officer last month. Activists from across the nation “took the knee”, a popular form of protest that has been organised globally by people raising their voice against systemic, systematic racism. SFI’s demonstration was however, against all kinds of oppression, including caste-based in the context of India. Protests have also altered in accordance with changed times — therefore, people gathered in various parts of the country in small groups, “took the knee”, and shared its photos widely across the internet. In the beginning of the demonstration, protesters also paid homage to the Indian soldiers who were martyred by Chinese soldiers at the Indo-China border recently.

On June 30, a nation-wide protest against petrol-diesel price hike will be organised in front of multiple petrol pumps in the country. On June 20, petrol and diesel prices went up for the 14th time in a row, breaking all records. Activists will demonstrate their protest holding placards and posters against the BJP government’s anti-people, uneconomical policy.

To ensure that no child goes hungry during this pandemic, SFI will lead a campaign from June 30 to July 15, called ‘Stop Children from Going Hungry’. The basic demands of it will be to provide mid-day meals to all students upto class XII and to ensure that each student is provided with 10kg free rice by the government for 6 months.

Following this, from July 15 to 30, the organisation will organise the ‘Home Visit Campaign’, through which SFI activists will visit the homes of students in order to interact with them and their family members. This will be to get a concrete idea on how the pandemic induced crisis has affected each of them individually. 

On July 26, there will be a nation-wide protest against the anti-student policies of the central government. The major issues and demands of this protest will be the following:

1. Disbursal of Fellowships
2. Digital Divide
3. Targeting of Student Activists
4. Fee Hikes: Semester Fees, Development Fees and Hostel Fees 
5. Provide Rs. 7,500 to Families of Students
6. Waive the Fee of 6 Months
7. Payment of Pending Salaries to Workers Across Universities
8. Mid-Day Meals to All Students Upto Class XII

The lockdown has been a tough phase, economically, socially, and mentally, for many in the country. One of the most affected groups happens to be students. Through this protest, SFI will demand the central government to firstly, pay student rents on their behalf and secondly, waive off hostel fees for the entire duration of the lockdown. 

On August 9, SFI will go for a “militant massive action” to raise the many issues that have been produced by the pandemic and the associated lockdown. This will be an attempt to join the struggles of India’s students, trade unions, peasant organisations and organisations of various class-mass and social organisations. The demands of this country-wide protest will be as follows:

1. Free Universal Healthcare For All
2. Mid-Day Meals to All Students Upto Class XII; 10kg Free Food Grains Per Student Per Month For 6 Months
3. Rs.7,500 Per Month For All Non Tax-Paying Families for Next 6 Months
4. Enact and Implement Urban Employment Guarantee and Unemployment Allowance
5. Issues of Migrant Workers to be Addressed on an Urgent Basis

The lockdown has heavily affected those who live on the margins of society — including women. Female students have had it worse during the pandemic induced lockdown, with their drop-out rates rising like never before. The lockdown has even made it difficult for them to procure essentials like sanitary napkins. SFI units at various places have been distributing these items to women’s homes. Locked up with their abusers in their own homes, many girls and women in abusive families have also had to fall victim to continuous domestic violence with no escape. The organisation has been spreading awareness about the need for girl students to get back to schools once the pandemic has passed. As part of the organisation’s efforts to garner attention towards the issues faced by women, SFI will carry out a month-long awareness programme and campaign in July. German Marxist theorist and women’s rights activist Clara Zetkin’s birth anniversary falls on July 5. Therefore, in addition to the campaign, a protest will be organised on the day against the central government’s apathy towards these problems. 

Mental health has become a very serious concern lately across the world. Psychologists and mental health professionals have stated how being locked up in homes and the extreme uncertainty in things have given rise to anxiety and other issues in people, especially students. It has been widely reported that there has been a drastic rise in suicides amid this crisis. SFI has been organising invigorating art-music-dance sessions and talks online with a hope to build social solidarity amid physical distancing. As part of this, all state committees of the organisation have been directed to organise online sessions on mental health and well-being on July 10.

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