As the uncertainty around APOGEE 2026 came to a rest, the APOGEE English Press sat down with Sajal Yadav, President of the Students’ Union, and CoStAAn, Finance, for a brief conversation about this year’s fest. 

Sajal began by explaining that his role as CoStAAn, Finance involved preparing and allocating budgets, signing MOUs, and closing deals. He summarised that his job was to act as the ‘CFO of the entire fest.’ 

Next he described the role of the Union Council (UC); it was, he said, to keep track of all the inventory allocated by the Union to various clubs and departments for the entire duration of the fest. The UC was also critically involved in the review mechanism of the entire fest, and based on these reviews, certain amendments to the charter were proposed. As the conversation moved to discussing the artist lineup for this edition, the President proudly informed us that this year, an allocation of circa 60 lakh rupees had been made towards the professional shows, up from the fourteen to sixteen lakh rupees of last year. Arpit Bala and Sachin Jigar among others would be the headliners for the concerts. In addition to the prof shows, The Rotunda Rave, which had historically been an Oasis-specific event, would make its APOGEE debut on Day Zero of this year’s edition. He also shared that it was the first time in history that APOGEE was going to be a four day affair, and at such a large scale too. 

Such revelations naturally questioned the need for fest deductions at all, since APOGEE appeared to only augment in scale even without bulk charging of the student body. To explain his positions, the President opened the budget sheet on his phone. He explained that Oasis had a greater number of events with more prize money, more judges and more outstation participation, leading to a higher RecNAcc and travel budget. Additionally, he remarked that the Food Fest had already given APOGEE a headstart of approximately fifteen lakh rupees—a luxury which was unavailable during Oasis. Finally, he assured the GBM that during the remainder of his tenure, he would try to deliver a system where deductions would not be necessary at all. On a lighter note, he divulged that his ideal day at APOGEE would be to attend a prof show, then enjoy one of the many planned parties and end the night with some good food at the stalls.

Addressing the events of the recently concluded ORM(s), he said that it was very ‘speculative’ of the CoStAA to think that they were under the constant threat of impeachment or probation. He believed that if grounds of probation are established against a certain department, they could not just threaten to walk away from the fest. In his opinion, genuine reviews and concerns were brought forth in the review mechanism and threatening to walk away was ‘just shunting away accountability.’ As part of a  system that had worked well for the last 53 years, the President believed that reviews were the greatest criticism. Providing the example of The Department of Visual Media (DVM) and The Department of Paper Evaluation and Presentation (PEP), both of whom were able to overcome probation because they ‘worked hard,’ Sajal said that scrutiny of committed mistakes cannot be used to hold the UC hostage. 

A set of demands was jointly put forth by the StuCCA and CoStAA, which the UC unanimously rejected during one of the attempts to convene the ORM. The President clarified that the StuCCA was later, in good faith, invited to negotiate. The result of these negotiations was that one of their demands regarding the exit mechanism from probation was tabled as a motion during the subsequent ORM. However, voting could not be completed due to the Oasis Review Committee (ORC) quorum not being met. He also cleared the air on the fact that while their demands were reasonable, the sole reason they were rejected was because they were not brought up through the appropriate channels. As to where this entire discourse originated from, Sajal said that more than one department felt that they were going to be put on probation. He acknowledged that such political back-and-forth could certainly affect the morale of said departments. 

To conclude, he urged the GBM to enjoy APOGEE 2026. For freshers, it would be the first APOGEE, while for his seniors it would be their last. With that, he signed off, wishing for an even more resounding fest than Oasis last semester.