Stating that student activism was key to the democratic process, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that it remained the responsibility of society to uphold such practices. Educational institutions should remain the cradles of democracy by imparting lessons on parliamentary democracy and social consciousness, he said.
He was speaking while inaugurating the valedictory ceremony of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Students Federation of India (SFI) here on Thursday.
Bastions of secularism
Mr. Vijayan said the State’s campuses had remained bastions of secularism at a time when communal groups had been spreading their influence across several institutions in the country. Besides crediting the campuses as the guardians of secular ideals, he also credited the SFI for making unparalleled contributions to society by moulding civic-minded citizens who had gone on to excel in various avenues, including arts, literature, media, cinema and governance.
He opined that student organisations should not restrict their role to contributing leaders and activists to the political arena. “They should also nurture public workers who render yeoman service in various avenues and are capable of leading from the front. The SFI has created many such tireless workers who continue to strive for the welfare of various sections,” he said.
Tracing the growth of the CPI(M)-feeder organisation since its inception in 1970, Mr. Vijayan said that the SFI had made crucial interventions that had become milestones in the State’s progress.
Several struggles
“The organisation has been at the forefront of several struggles, including those against the neo-liberal policies in the education sector, opening up of the education sector to self-financing colleges, denial of financial assistance by banks, granting approval to private polytechnic colleges and the privatisation of medical education,” he said.
He added that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had been able to reverse the trend seen elsewhere in the country by ensuring that enrolment in public institutions was on the rise.