The EPC sat down with Sarthak Agarwal, one of the four Presidential candidates for the upcoming Students’ Union elections. He is a third-year student pursuing a double major in Physics and Chemical Engineering. He joined the SU Executive Committee in his second year, where he said he learned a lot about the workings of the SU and how the execution of initiatives took place. Sarthak also emphasised how his time on the committee had taught him much about fests, especially the ‘backend’ part.

Sarthak mentioned that during his second year, he met many past Presidents of the SU via the BITSAA General Meet and the SU Leadership Conclave. His conversations with them served as his primary motivation for running for the same post. He believes that there is a vast difference between the SU that existed pre-pandemic, and the one that exists now. He stated that this has led to a decline in the ‘campus culture’, which he wants to revive as soon as possible. He said that meeting these people enabled him to understand what the Students’ Union is capable of and what steps need to be taken to realise its power effectively. 

He touched upon his past initiatives, citing the success of the SU Printing Service, the SU Trunk Service, organising the Holi grub, preparing examination guides, etc. and how they have benefited the student body. His manifesto aims to do the same, he added. One point in his manifesto includes opening up a food court on campus, which would house brands like Baskin-Robbins, Haldiram’s, and Burger Farm. ‘BITS is a brand, but there is no brand in BITS’, he said. 

Sarthak added that he aimed to get the library open throughout the day, like many other premier institutions in the country. He said that his tenure would also see more importance being given to ‘hackathons, sports tournaments, coding competitions’. Another one of his future initiatives is ensuring transparency in the committee selection processes. He explained that committees like the ICC, Disciplinary Committee, and Anti-Ragging Committee only nominated students based on the President’s request, so many creditable students failed to get in. He said he would change the selection procedure to rectify that so only people genuinely deserving of the post would get in.

The conversation ended with Sarthak urging every GBM member to vote. He requested everyone to go through each candidate’s manifesto and statement of purpose, and to keep in mind all events of the past ten days. He said that he believed the GBM would vote for the ‘better’ candidate in the end.