Haryana agriculture university students protest revised stipend policy, hurt in police lathi-charge

A student protest at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCS HAU) last night, against a major policy change, turned violent when the security personnel allegedly lathi-charged protestors, injuring several. Scuffle between students and police and some students with grave injuries can be seen in viral videos and pictures shared widely on social media. Students of Haryana’s only agricultural university are protesting revised eligibility criteria for monthly stipend.

Hisar-based agricultural university has announced an amendment in the scholarship scheme, as per which, that only the top 25% of students and those who score 75% or above marks will get the stipend, claimed student groups. Earlier, the minimum scores required to get a stipend were 70% marks or above.

Expressing solidarity with the agitating students, several political leaders and student groups condemned the “brutal” act of administration.

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The DU Jat Students’ Union said in a post on X, “Students are on the streets in Haryana's only agricultural university (CCS HAU, Hisar) - why? Because the university administration has recently implemented an amendment which has dashed the hopes of hardworking students.”

“The students are not making any new demands – they just want back the same justice and the same system that existed earlier. But in return they get sticks, abuses and bloodied foreheads.” “The university's "security" has now become a weapon of suppression, not the safety of students. The scuffles and lathicharge on students during the protest are proof of the fact that raising voice has become a crime today,” it said.

“Think about it - is this the same India where the youth are called the future of 'New India'? This is not just about a stipend – it is a reflection of the system’s insensitivity and its mindset to suppress the voice of youth,” the student union added.

CCS HAU revised stipend scheme

Condemning the incident, Congress candidate Divyanshu Budhi Raja commented, “Last night, the administration brutally lathi-CCcharged the students at CCS HAU University in Hisar, Haryana, in which many students were seriously injured. The students of Haryana's only agricultural university are out on the streets these days because the university administration has recently made a major change in the scholarship system.”

“The students are not demanding anything new — they are just demanding the restoration of the same old just system. But the way the administration, officials and security personnel lathi-charged the peacefully protesting students is highly condemnable,” he said.

Another student group, Collective Delhi, argued that this cut in scholarships will lead to students being forced to discontinue their education and demanded reinstatement of the previous scholarship scheme.

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“COLLECTIVE calls upon all progressive forces to stand with CCS HAU's student struggle and resist the criminalisation of students. We demand reinstatement of the previous scholarship scheme, increase in public funding for agriculture and veterinary universities and suspension of the CCS HAU authorities involved in the brutal attack on students,” the student association said in a statement.

Taking a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and the National Education Policy, the Collective Delhi said that the RSS BJP regime has decided to shut down standalone agriculture and veterinary universities under NEP 2020. “In a country where the majority depends on agriculture and agriculture-linked occupations, the lack of public-funded research in these fields will make us further dependent on imperialist powers. NEP 2020 further distances education from the lives and needs of ordinary people. Student-youth have already been resisting high unemployment under CM Nayab Singh's government. This scholarship cut will lead to many students being forced to discontinue their education or appear for placements,” it believes.