Hyderabad: For The First Time HCU Gets A Woman Gen Secretary and 2 Queer Dalit Panel Members

HYDERABAD: The Student Union elections held at the University of Hyderabad on Friday resulted in a sweeping victory for the ASA-DSU-SFI alliance for the 2022-23 term. The alliance, consisting of the Students' Federation of India (SFI), the Ambedkar Students' Association, and the Dalit Students' Union (DSU), secured all nine central panel posts, including Prajwal as president and Kripa Maria George as general secretary.

Prajwal Gaikwad, Prithvi Sai and Kripa Maria George 

Prithvi Sai and Kripa Maria George won the vice-president and general secretary posts securing 1,860 and 2,076 votes respectively. Prajwal Gaikwad, a Dalit queer, has been elected as the union president securing 1,838 votes while Hritik Laxman Lalan, a Dalit transgender woman won the ICC (Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment) position. 

In addition, the alliance won all four main panel posts and three ICC-GSCASH positions, which work towards promoting gender justice and combating sexual harassment.  This progressive panel includes six Dalits, including two members from the Dalit queer community. Notably, Kripa Maria George made history by becoming the first woman general secretary of the university with a total of 2076 votes.

Kripa Maria George is a scholar at the University of Hyderabad doing her PhD in Translation Studies. She hails from Ernakulam, Kerala, where she spent her life till 12th standard. She completed her graduation from St Xavier's College, Mumbai, after which she reached Hyderabad for her Masters in English literature and continued to do her MPhil and PhD in University of Hyderabad. 

She has been an active member of SFI since 2018, the year she joined the University of Hyderabad and has continued to work for the organisation without ever looking back. From childhood, the inequalities existing in society used to disturb her and she wanted to look for a way to change it and she used to feel that ensuring education to all would be a major contributing factor towards eradicating inequalities. 

 Kripa expressed her pride by stating, "It is a significant moment for our panel to have delivered the first woman general secretary of the University of Hyderabad. I am committed to promoting gender justice and advocating for the welfare of students on campus.

Kripa Maria George told that she would follow the footprints of Rosa Luxemburg, Savitri Bhai Phule and Clara Zerkin for the empowerment of women and Gender Justice.

Also Read: University of Hyderabad Election Results Today