For the third time in succession, Abhishek Tandon has been unanimously elected as the President of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidya Parishad's Delhi Unit. Tandon is scheduled to re-assume charge officially on March 4th at the State Conference. As per the Organization norm, Tandon would serve at the position for a year, following which, a fresh election would take place.
Speaking about the priorities for his forthcoming year in office, Tandon has said that helping students tide over the academic loss they have suffered due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown would be the organization's top priority. "Students have suffered in many ways because of the pandemic, which has impacted the quality of education. While Delhi University has started with offline classes, we understand that it will take some getting used to for students and staff members to achieve normalcy. To bridge the academic gap caused due to the pandemic, we will push for value-addition courses. This particularly holds significance for final year students who have to enter the job market. Short-term summer courses to improve their skill-set and make them industry-ready would be a good way to help them in these uncertain times."
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Tandon said the organization's other major focus area would be ensuring the smooth implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020. "Recently, DU's academic council approved a UG curriculum framework aligned with NEP. We will support a fast-paced implementation of the NEP and smoothen this transition for students so they receive a world-class research-oriented education with more practical experiences," Tandon added
.The three-time ABVP President also stressed the need to include such courses in the curriculum that help students acquire India's ancient wisdom. "Our ancient texts have so much to offer in a wide range of subjects, including Science, Arts, Medicine, Mathematics, Law, Architecture, Metallurgy, and Ecology, among others. Our modern-day education system must include the rich heritage of Indian knowledge tradition courses. This will encourage the holistic development of students and instil pride for the Indian culture among them. “Meanwhile, Tandon also said that the social welfare works being carried out by the ABVP would be continued at a larger scale. "During the peak of the pandemic, we launched several initiatives to reach out to those in need. ABVP held massive Covid testing drives, delivered medical supplies and food packets, taught students from poor families for free, and even helped tragedy-hit families with funeral rites. Even as we have moved out of the pandemic, ABVP will continue to serve society in various ways. For instance, we are holding ‘self-protection’ displays at colleges for girl students under 'Mission Sahasi'. Similarly, our activists are creating awareness on menstrual hygiene and distributing sanitary napkins under the 'Ritumati' drive."
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When asked about his personal goals for the forthcoming academic year, Tandon said, "In ABVP, there are no personal goals and whatever is decided collectively by the organisation is implemented on the ground. ABVP will continue with the objective that has remained constant since our inception 'punar-nirman' (reformation) of the nation through 'charitra-nirman' (character building). Besides helping students achieve their career objectives, we also aim to inculcate the values of patriotism and service towards the nation within them.
