{"id":276503,"date":"2026-01-16T00:12:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=276503"},"modified":"2026-01-16T00:12:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:42:54","slug":"students-rights-for-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2026\/01\/16\/students-rights-for-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"Students’ rights for sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Tana Pumin]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year, one evening, someone called me – an unknown number. He asked about my whereabouts and spoke as if he had known me for years. Because of that familiarity, I stayed on the line.<\/p>\n

A minute later, he asked, “Acha… yeh saal RGU join karega AAPSU ke liye?”<\/p>\n

That one sentence dragged me back to the chaos of my master’s batch of 2021-2023.<\/p>\n

I had joined Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) by rightfully qualifying both the entrance examination and the viva voce. I remember there were 35 slots, and I was really desperate to join RGU. After three years of studying outside and facing uncertainty during Covid-19, I wanted to study here in Arunachal. I loved my state. I loved being here, near home.<\/p>\n

When I came for the viva voce, I witnessed how competitive it was. There were more than 70 participants who had qualified. I was extremely nervous. Eventually, the results came out, and I earned my slot in the top three. It was one of the happiest days of my life.<\/p>\n

What I did not know then was that some people had not earned their seats to study but actually they had stolen someone’s dream.<\/p>\n

By 2022, the AAPSU election campaigns began. Having studied outside, I had no real idea how student politics worked. I knew about democracy in theory – but what I witnessed in my third semester was something else entirely.<\/p>\n

I soon learned that many people join the university not to study but to vote. Every three years they re-enrol, take up a seat, and stay just long enough to become eligible for the AAPSU elections. Why would someone write an entrance exam, clear a viva, attend two semesters, and then appear in the third semester only to vote?<\/p>\n

As campaigning picked up, students began telling us that their brothers, cousins, or friends were contesting. Then we were summoned to meet candidates. Slowly, the truth became impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n

At first, it felt empowering – students choosing their leaders. But that illusion didn’t last long. The campus split into invisible territories. One candidate spoke to one group, another to a different group. Classes emptied. Faculty members grew anxious. But did the candidates who claimed to be student leaders care? No.<\/p>\n

Classrooms that had once been filled with friendship and laughter turned into spaces of rivalry, as supporters of opposing candidates divided the class among themselves. The AAPSU election had become a festival, and like any festival, there was money everywhere.<\/p>\n

It was said that presidential candidates offered Rs 20,000 per voter, general secretaries Rs 10,000, and others Rs 5,000 or less. The lower the post, the lower the price.<\/p>\n

I first refused the money. But someone took it in my name anyway. Later, the opposing camp even called to confirm whether I had been “paid.” That was the moment I understood how deeply rotten the system was. After that, like many others, I stopped pretending and took the money when it was offered.<\/p>\n

Let us be honest: the money flow is real. No matter how loudly people deny it, it exists. There are public speeches about clean elections, but behind the scenes, votes are traded openly.<\/p>\n

There are around 4,500 to 5,000 student voters in the AAPSU elections across Arunachal. By rough calculation, a serious candidate must be spending crores. Where does this money come from? And how is it recovered later?<\/p>\n

The most painful part came after the elections. The campus felt hollow. Ten students from my own class stopped coming. A week passed. Then a month. They never returned. Their purpose had been served.<\/p>\n

I kept thinking of a girl I met during my viva voce. She was bright, sincere, and desperate to study mass communication. She had missed the cut by a small margin. Her seat had gone to someone who later disappeared after voting.<\/p>\n

That is the real cost of this system.<\/p>\n

So today, when someone casually asks, “Yeh saal RGU join karega AAPSU ke liye?”, it no longer sounds harmless. It sounds like a confession.<\/p>\n

Are the pioneers of this student union proud of what it has become? A system where leadership is auctioned?<\/p>\n

Where seats meant for education are used for profit? Where genuine students are pushed out by political greed?<\/p>\n

If this continues, real leaders will never rise – only those who can afford to buy power can.<\/p>\n

And the biggest question remains: Will students’ rights always be for sale?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Tana Pumin] Last year, one evening, someone called me – an unknown number. He asked about my whereabouts and spoke as if he had known me for years. Because of that familiarity, I stayed on the line. A minute later, he asked, “Acha… yeh saal RGU join karega AAPSU ke liye?” That one sentence dragged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-276503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}