WHEN the Maharashtra government failed to act over the memorandums presented to it, the students from all over the State gathered in Mumbai to force it to take note of their demands. A rally with the participation of more than 20,000 students began from Girgaon Chowpatty and culminated at Azad Maidan. ABVP national president Prof. Milind Marathe, organising secretary Shri Sunil Ambekar, secretary Shri Ravi Kumar, state president Prof. Chandrashekhar Deshpande, state vice president Prof. Varadraj Bapat, zonal organising secretary Shri Sanjay Pachpore were also present on the occasion. A Vanvasi student leader Ms Sneha Shingari posed a question to the government regarding the poor condition of SC/ST hostels. Samrat Malvadkar from Solapur raised the issue of flop university examination system. He said good opportunities are missed due to the late declaration of results. Government must be held responsible for it and it must compensate it. Pramod Karad from Kolhapur criticised the government for not properly channelising the scholarship effectively. Many other students also spoke on the occasion. Dr Amol Patil, State secretary, while addressing the gathering urged the government to take immediate steps to stop commercialisation of education otherwise the students would come on the streets. For the last three months, the ABVP has been holding agitations in colleges of the State through conferences, workshops, meetings, and college bandhs, etc. It has prepared a Charter of Demands containing 34 demands.
(FOC)
