With the Students’ Union (SU) Elections rapidly approaching, the English Press Club sat down with Dhaval Rakesh Bothra, a third-year Computer Science student and one of the candidates contesting the post of President.
Dhaval stated that his decision to run was motivated by his dissatisfaction with the current SU. He said that he would like to change the current ‘lack of transparency’ in the Union. He felt that the Union exercised excessive control over financial transactions and other aspects of the fest, contributing to this perception. Addressing his manifesto, Dhaval asserted that he had deliberately chosen fewer points, which he would be able to implement within a month of getting elected. He also praised his competitors for coming up with points he had not considered, which complemented his manifesto.
He stated that there was a negative perception being passed down about the Students’ Union through successive batches. He believed that it was primarily due to the people in the SU and those close to them who believed that they were ‘integral to campus life’. He stated that it was their responsibility to address this negative perception, which they were not doing.
Turning to his manifesto, Dhaval talked about providing room booking access to all students. According to him, the current system accepts all requests from students with access as long as the room is available. With the system he proposed, he said, a larger number of requests would warrant a more thorough examination of the reasoning behind the booking. He acknowledged that it might lead to a lack of room availability. To ensure fairness, he said that he would implement several checks, such as not allowing the same person to book a room repeatedly.
He also argued against departments getting VIP access during professional shows. He stated that the VIP section was an inconvenience, as people from the general section could simply climb over the physical barriers. However, Dhaval agreed that professors should have some form of special treatment to ensure that they have a comfortable experience.
Elaborating on the point about gym maintenance in his manifesto, Dhaval brought up safety concerns due to old and damaged equipment, and discomfort due to the improper air conditioning system. To improve this, he proposed a system where students who attend the gym regularly would keep tabs on equipment and flag problems, if any.
Dhaval also mentioned that there had been a ‘degradation of technical culture’ at APOGEE over the years. He pointed to a decline in technical events and an increase in cultural ones. He claimed that clubs tended to prioritise easily marketable events for students over technical events, and that they paid more attention to students from other colleges than to those on campus.
Dhaval spoke highly of the other three candidates running for the post of President, lauding their qualities, communication skills and initiatives. On a parting note, he said that he agreed with one of the other candidates on increasing the size of the Union, arguing that “there should not be a single president who would hold the power [sic]”. He claimed that this would make the Union more accountable.