Shibir unveils 36-point manifesto

Marking the historic 36 days of the July Uprising, the Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed 'Oikkoboddho Shikharthi Jote' (United Student Alliance) has unveiled a 36-point manifesto for the upcoming Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) election.
The manifesto includes six urgent priorities to be implemented and six negative practices to be eliminated from the campus life.
The announcement was made at a press conference at 3:30 pm on Monday in front of the DUCSU building by the panel's assistant general secretary candidate, Mohiuddin Khan.
According to the manifesto, the six promises to be implemented are: a safer campus, solving the housing crisis, ensuring security for female students, improved medical services and healthy food, better transportation, and access to sufficient information and services for career development.
The six issues they pledged to eradicate are: authoritarian politics, repression and violence, the culture of "guest rooms" and forced gatherings, discriminatory policies and behaviour, drugs, mugging, extortion, the "come after lunch" culture in administration, Islamophobia, and cyberbullying.
Other pledges include incorporating DUCSU elections into the academic calendar to ensure they are held annually on schedule, freeing Dhaka University from what they termed "fascist influence," guaranteeing legal dormitory seats for all first-year students, and introducing low-cost, nutritious meals designed by dieticians in campus canteens with food quality checks every three months.
The manifesto also promises secure transportation for female students, minimising the number of male staff in women's halls, appointing female members to the proctorial team, relaxing entry restrictions in women's dormitories, implementing maternity leave for female students, and recruiting female staff in common rooms.
Administrative reforms include cutting red tape by introducing a "paperless registrar building," launching a one-stop service for students planning to study abroad, improving the DUCSU website, and creating an app for transparent access to resources. They also proposed mentorship programmes modeled on top global universities, workshops on research and soft skills, and expansion of libraries and seminar rooms.
The manifesto further highlights strengthening alumni networks, renovating mosques, temples, and other places of worship on the campus, expanding mental health counseling services, modernising the medical centre, hiring specialist doctors, and signing agreements with private hospitals nationwide to provide discounted treatment for students and their families.
It also includes introducing scholarships for physically challenged students, upgrading the Institute of Modern Languages to international standards, increasing research budgets for laboratories, controlling entry of outsiders and street hawkers into the campus, enforcing zero tolerance for sexual harassment and cyberbullying, and ensuring free access to menstrual hygiene products.

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