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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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All India Students Federation
The All India Students' Federation (AISF) is the oldest student organisation in India, founded in 1936.

Pre-independence

AISF was founded on 12 August 1936, with guidance and cooperation from the Indian independence movement. The foundation conference of the AISF was held at Ganga Prasad Memorial Hall in Lucknow, with 936 delegates from across India. The conference was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru, and presided over by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The conference resolved to establish an All India Students' Federation, and Prem Narayan Bhargava was elected as the first general secretary.

The second conference of the AISF was held three months later, beginning on 22 November 1936 in Lahore. It mainly discussed and adopted the constitution of the AISF. The conference was attended by about 150 delegates under the presidency of Sarat Chandra Bose. The conference was also addressed by Govind Ballabh Pant. It passed a resolution condemning the intervention by Nazi Germany into the affairs of Republican Spain. The conference also agreed to affiliate the AISF with the World Students' Association.

Hemu Kalani, an AISF leader, was arrested by the British army in 1942 for leading the Quit India Movement, and publicly hanged in 1943 at the age of 19. AISF leader Kanaklata Barua was another student leader who died participating in the fight for independence.

An AISF delegation visited the Bengal state during the famine of 1943 and engaged in relief activities.

During the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in Bombay in February 1946, the AISF helped to mobilise students in support of the Naval Ratings.

AISF in independent India

After independence, the AISF concentrated its activities mainly on educational issues, anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism, providing a platform for student unity against common threats. The AISF played a central role in the Telangana Rebellion against the Nizam of Hyderabad.

The AISF continued to fight for Indian unity with the Goa liberation movement. Satyagrahis from across India entered Goa on 15 August 1955 and were fired upon. 23-year-old Karnail Singh Benipal was killed when he tried to save his leader V.D. Chitale. The general secretary of the AISF, Sukhendu Mazumdar, was present with AISF leader C. K. Chandrappan on 15 August at the Goa border to help the student satyagrahis.

The AISF participated in the Kothari Commission report, which provided the basis for broad educational reforms in India.

In the 1980s, during the Khalistan movement, the AISF, under the leadership of General Secretary Satyapal Dang, received armed training to counter Khalistan militants. Harpal Mohali, the AISF leader from Mohali, led movements in Panjab University. In response to his attempt to counter Khalistan, Mohali was shot by militants and left paralysed. Many AISF activists were killed fighting against Khalistan separatism.

State-level presence

The AISF has a strong presence in Kerala, Bihar, West Bengal, Tripura, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,Rajasthan, Assam, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, New Delhi, and Punjab, and in most universities in the country.

Activities

Protest and demands

  • The AISF protested against the National Education Policy in 2019 and the proposed increase in university fees.
  • AISF members were active in multiple Citizenship Amendment Act protests in 2019.
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic in India, AISF activists called for the distribution of essential products in various states. The federation set up COVID-19 helpline numbers in various states to help students, and also distributed facemasks and hand sanitiser.
  • The AISF held a hunger strike in August 2021, demanding a fresh job calendar in Andhra Pradesh. The federation has also campaigned against the privatisation of schools and colleges in the state.
  • AISF activists protested against alleged errors in results of the Railway Recruitment Control Board's Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRCB NTPC) exam, during Bihar Bandh, in Patna on 28 January 2022.
  • The AISF organised a national convention, "Reject NEP 2020" against the National Education Policy (NEP) on 15 May 2022 in Chennai. The convention called for a united front of students and teachers of all educational institutions for the withdrawal of the NEP, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).

Other social work

The AISF runs Sramajibi Canteen and is involved in various other social work.

LGBT issues

The AISF actively supports LGBT rights. In 2022, AISF state committee member Nadira Mehrin became the first transgender person to contest in a student union election at Kerala University, and also contested as the AISF candidate for chairperson of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS), the first time a transgender person had led a candidates' panel for a university election in the state.

Motto and organisational structure

The organisation's original motto, reflecting its focus on peace, progress and scientific socialism, was "Freedom, Peace and Progress". This was amended at the 1958 National Convention, and the motto since then has been "Study & Struggle".

The administrative structure of the federation includes:

  1. National executive body
  2. State executive body
  3. State administrative body
  4. District administrative body
  5. Block level committee
  6. Institutions level unions

AISF National Conferences

National Conference Year Place President General Secretary
1
(Founder Conference)		 12–13 August 1936 Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) Prem Narayan Bhargava
2 22 November 1936 Lahore Prem Narayan Bhargava
3 1–3 January 1938 Madras Ansar Harvani
4 1–2 January 1939 Calcutta M.L.Shah
5 1–2 January 1940 Delhi M.L.Shah
6 25–26 December 1940 Nagpur M. Farooqui
7 31 December 1941 to 1 January 1942 Patna Perin Bharucha
Prashanta Sanyal
8 28–31 December 1944 Calcutta Satyapal Dang
9 20 January 1946 Guntur Satyapal Dang
10 3 January 1947 Delhi Annada Shankar Bhattacharya
11 29–31 December 1947 Bombay Satyapal Dang Annada Shankar Bhattacharya
12 23–27 July 1949 Calcutta Susheela Madiman Annada Shankar Bhattacharya
1950 Calcutta Susheela Madiman Sukhendu Mazumdar (Acting general secretary)
1952 Calcutta Susheela Madiman Annada Shankar Bhattacharya
13 1–5 January 1953 Hyderabad Harish Chandra Tiwari N.R. Dasari
14 5–8 January 1955 Lucknow B. Narsingha Rao Sukhendu Mazumdar
15 2–4 January 1959 Udaipur Vidyasagar Nautiyal Hiren Dasgupta
16 25–27 October 1961,
but it could not be held due to natural disaster		 Kanpur
17 29 December 1965 – 2 January 1966 Pondicherry Joginder Singh Dayal S. Sudhakar Reddy
18 21–23 December 1969 New Delhi Bant Singh Brar Ranjit Guha
19 20 January 1974 Cochin Shambhu Sharan Shrivastava Aziz Pasha
20 1–9 February 1979 Ludhiana Atul Kumar Anjan Amarjeet Kaur
21 28–31 January 1983 Trichy Atul Kumar Anjan Amarjeet Kaur
22 13–16 December 1985 Guntur Ravindra Nath Rai T. Laxminarayana
23 15–18 February 1991 Bokaro Ravindra Nath Rai Soni Thengamom
24 7–9 February 1996 Hyderabad Rahul Bhaiji T. Srinivas
25 18–21 October 2000 Jalandhar T. Srinivas,
Ramakrushna Panda		 Vijendra Kesari
26 3–6 January 2006 Chennai P. Muralidhar,
Jinu Zakariya Oommen		 Vijendra Kesari
27 13-15 February 2010 Puducherry Paramjit Dhaban Abhay Taksal
28 28–30 November 2013 Hyderabad Valli Ullah Khadri Vishwajeet Kumar
29 27–30 September 2018 Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh Shuvam Banerjee Vicky Mahesari
30 28–1 September–October 2023 Begusarai Vicky Mahesari

Viraaj Devang

Dinesh Sreerangaraj

Present leadership

At the 30th AISF National Conference, held in September to October 2023 in Begusarai, Bihar, Vicky Mahesari from Punjab was elected as National President and Dinesh Seerangaraj from Tamilnadu was elected as General Secretary.

Recently, Viraaj Devang from Maharashtra who served as National Treasurer was elected as the New National President.

Notable leaders

See also