SIO releases manifesto for Lok Sabha polls

Hyderabad: With the demand of accessible and affordable quality education for students, jobs and opportunities for youth, dignity and human rights to all citizens irrespective of their background or preferences, the SIO (Student Islamic Organisation) released its manifesto for General Elections at a programme held on Thursday.

Speaking to media persons Talha Fayazuddin, State President, SIO said that India being the largest democracy in the world provides the opportunity for people to resolve their issues and challenges through their elected representatives who would represent their demands in the legislative body and build consensus. Election manifesto is a means to communicate people's hopes and aspirations to potential representatives.

"On behalf of students and youth of India, the SIO takes this opportunity to present Students' Manifesto before all the political parties for consideration and inclusion in their respective manifesto and agenda," he said.

The recommendations and demands laid out in the manifesto are divided into three categories; education, youth and human rights issues. The section on education sharply criticizes the central and state governments for their poor implementation of the Right to Education Act, and makes a number of recommendations to improve efficiency and transparency.

There are specific demands to increase the stipend of Maulana Azad National Fellowship and Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship as well as to roll back the requirement of NET for eligibility.

The manifesto also demands reservation in educational institutions as per the recommendations of the Sachar Committee report. Apart from these demands, there are also recommendations to improve scholarship schemes and provide healthcare for students.

They demanded the government to Enact Rohit Act; Central universities/IITs/IIMs, etc., be equally distributed geographically and make quality education easily accessible; Free Health Insurance for Students ; Government should pay extra attention to Children with Special Needs ; Arabic & Islamic studies chair has to be opened in all the Universities. All the Universities should commence BA in Arabic & Islamic Studies courses ; RTE Act (2009) must be implemented completely; Establish AMU Off Campus Centres in Minority Concentrated Districts; Government should ensure that the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI)

The leaders also demanded that all vacancies in government and public sector jobs should be filled immediately; The selection process for government and public sector jobs should be made transparent, fair and efficient; Reservation in public services must be given as per Ranganath Misra Commission.

Further they demanded National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam must be carried out in a fair and transparent manner ; Institutions made for the protection of human rights should be strengthened ; Section 197 of the CrPC must be scrapped ; Law should be enacted for the prevention of discrimination against religious minorities in all spheres.

At this occasion of launch, Abdullah Faiz, State Secretary, SIO TS said that students and youth are the biggest constituency of this country and political parties must specially cater to their needs when seeking for votes. He also said that SIO has prepared a manifesto that asks political parties to invest in the future of the country. He stressed that students and youth are not going to be mollified by slogans or distracted by talk of divisive issues.

The manifesto was released in the presence of Kaleem Ahmad Khan (Member Advisory Council, SIO of India), Ibraheem Sayeed (Organising Secretary, SIO TS), Malik Amer (Media Manager, SIO TS), Uzair Khan (Universities Organiser, SIO TS)