Women students’ issues emerge as key focus in DUSU campaign

Ahead of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections to be held on September 18, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has stepped up its outreach, with candidates visiting colleges to engage with women students on their concerns.

Meetings were held in institutions including Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Miranda House, Vivekananda College, Ramanujan College, and Rajdhani College, where students highlighted hostel-related challenges, infrastructural gaps, and suggestions for the upcoming polls.

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Women students at Delhi University continue to face a range of issues—from functioning of Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) and inadequate girls’ common rooms, to the absence of sanitary pad vending machines in some colleges. The university administration, following repeated demands from student groups in recent years, has set up a committee to strengthen ICCs and installed vending machines in several colleges.

ABVP representatives said that women’s safety, access to facilities, and redressal mechanisms remain central to their campaign. They pointed to earlier initiatives such as pressing for the ICC’s full implementation, introducing police vans around campuses for safety, and offering scholarships during Navratri.

National secretary Shivangi Kharwal said that progress at the university depends on women being “safe, respected, and empowered,” while Delhi state secretary Sarthak Sharma noted that the organisation would continue to place women’s concerns at the centre of its poll agenda.