The Cultural Secretary (Female), Yashasvi Chennawar’s manifesto spoke of 18 points out of which 3 were fulfilled, 8 are under progress and 7 have not been fulfilled yet.

Manifesto Point	Status
Collaborate With Clubs for Workshops	Fulfilled
Automatic Vending Machines for Sanitary Napkins	Fulfilled
Cultural/Sanskriti Magazine	In Progress
Culture of Martial Arts for Females	In Progress
Professionals offering classes for special skills	In Progress
Introduction of a mini-comic con and conducting a Prom Night	In Progress
Increasing the scale of informal events and conducting Shangrila	In Progress
Initiation of ethnic food fest	In Progress
Updating the GB on Cultural Activites	Not Fulfilled
More Magazine Subscriptions & Sanskriti Magazine	Not Fulfilled
Anaemia Screening for Girls	Fulfilled
Women Specific Hackathons, Marathons and More	Not Fulfilled
Movies in Common Room	Not Fulfilled
Portal to Record Participation in Clubs	Not Fulfilled
Increase Participation in Literary Events During Renaissance	In Progress
Production House	Not Fulfilled
ME Freshers’ Night 2018	Not Fulfilled
Incentivising Pearl	In Progress

Collaborate With The Clubs for Workshops: Fulfilled

The motive was to familiarise the freshers with the working of various clubs on campus and to ensure that the induction process was done smoothly. During the Fervour week, numerous workshops and events were conducted by the clubs, the schedule of which was extensively planned by the Cultural Secretary. (link to schedule)

Automatic Vending Machines for Sanitary Napkins: Fulfilled

This point is common to the manifestos of both, the Cultural Secretary (Girls) and the President. The necessary contacts were claimed to have been procured by the President and upon mutual agreement, the matter was taken forward by the President while she was asked to look after the Orientation programme. A sanitary napkin dispenser has been installed in the washroom in the library.

Cultural and Sanskriti Magazines: In Progress

To celebrate the cultural diversity on campus and to bring out more participation from the regional associations, a team has been set up which has been set into working and bringing out a magazine which has faculty giving a few inputs. The magazine aims to document all the cultural events. This magazine is independent of Journal Club, and the Cultural Secretary claims she has assembled a separate team for it.

Creating a Culture of Martial Arts for Females: In Progress

As of now, there is a martial arts class being conducted in the SAC which is an initiative taken up by the NSS, the Cultural Secretary has claimed to have approach a few individuals with professional training in order to conduct similar classes/workshops for females in the next semester depending on the number of enthusiasts.

Professionals Offering Classes for Special Skills: In Progress

The Cultural Secretary also stated that the SU intends to have a few classes conducted for skill development. Hopefully, these workshops will be conducted by seniors in various clubs who have received professional training. If not, there are plans of roping in a professional from outside the campus for a nominal fee, depending on the number of enthusiasts. The General Secretary has also asked about the interest of the General Body in specific skills recently.

Introduction of Mini Comic-Con, and Conducting Prom Night: In Progress

The candidate plans on having a mini comic con on campus in the next semester but the feasibility of doing so depends entirely on the budget allocation. The prom night was conducted during the Fervour week for the BE freshers. The candidate has, besides scheduling the events, coordinated and roped in Red Bull as a sponsor.

Increasing the Scale of Informal Events and Conducting Shangrila: In Progress

The candidate intends to conduct various informal nights viz. dramatics, music, dance to name a few. Keeping in mind the commitments and priorities of the relevant clubs, the plan of having events on 3 consecutive nights has been dropped for this semester. While the dramatics and music nights were conducted this semester, the rest of the events are slated to be conducted in the following semester.

Initiation of Ethnic Food Fest: In Progress

The Cultural Secretary said intended to have food trucks which cater food celebrating various cultures during Shangrila or Sanskriti. She claims to have procured contacts and tried her best to bring in food trucks during Sanskriti, as a result of which there was a dosa and chaat stall amongst the other fast food stalls. While this was not exactly the promised “ethnic food fest”, it was a good start.

Updating the GB on Cultural Activites: Not Fulfilled

While Chennawar said that a group Culturals@BPHC already exists, it is not very active as of now due to the lack of awareness amongst the general body. She plans to float a notice regarding the same on BPHC Shoutbox in the beginning of the next semester and make the page active during Pearl. Here, the general body will be informed of all the cultural events taking place on campus. However, considering the fact that almost half the tenure of the SUC is done, and the page is yet to be active, this point clearly haasn’t been fulfilled this semester.

More Magazine Subscriptions & Sanskriti Magazine: Not Fulfilled

The Cultural Secretary intended to take subscriptions for magazines in hostels, similar to the existing newspapers in Bhawans. This hasn’t manifested yet. The Sanskriti Magazine being referred to in this point has been included in a previous point.

Anaemia Screening for Girls: Fulfilled

Anaemia screening was done in the first semester by the NSS in association with the Lions’ Club. The Cultural Secretary mentioned that she is ready to collaborate with NSS for the same and hopes to conduct a few more screening sessions in the next semester. The result of the first screening showed that the number of anaemic girls was zero and hence no food counter was set-up. If necessary she seemed confident of pushing for a separate counter specifically for the anaemic people. Such a counter (with green leafy vegetables) was set up last year as well, after a screening identifed low iron levels during her tenure as an SMC member.

Women Specific Hackathons, Marathons and More: Not Fulfilled

She claims that this hasn’t been fulfilled so far due to a lack of participation and a packed schedule this semster. She is ready to conduct such events in the next semester if there is enough participation.

Movies in Common Room: Not Fulfilled

The chances of this being fulfilled are bleak mainly due to the issue of piracy. This was a concern that was also raised during Soapbox before elections last year. The only alternative offered by the candidate was to stream movies from YouTube.

Portal to Record Participation in Clubs: Not Fulfilled

The Cultural Secretary wants to create a portal similar to one on the SWD website wherein achievements are recorded. She also hopes to increase the travel reimbursement for the winners (currently 50%) if budget permits. However, the SWD achievements section is something that has existed before the start of this year, and has not been used much so far.

Increase Participation in Literary Events During Renaissance: In Progress

In order to increase participation, there is a plan of incentivising literary events during Renaissance, where additional points can be traded in for merchandise.

Production House: Not Fulfilled

The production house was primarily intended to be a space for the performing clubs. This is still unfulfilled due to a lack of space. The Cultural Secretary was confident that a room would be allocated for it if she manages to find space for it.

ME Freshers’ Night 2018: Not Fulfilled

The ME fresher night wasn’t conducted due to certain issues that arose with the postponement of the BE freshers’. She also claims to have spoken to a few ME students who have expressed hectic academic schedules as a reason for their lack of participation in the club-related activities on campus. Thus, a lack of incentives prevented this event from happening.

Incentivising Pearl: In Progress

To improve participation in Pearl, there is a plan to award points to all the winners besides the prize money which can be traded off with Pearl merchandise against a fixed price.

Outside The Manifesto

Besides working on the points in her manifesto, Chennawar said that she worked on a variety of other initiatives, like:

• installation of solar panels,
• promoting stand-up club and cooking club. (Cooking Club set up a stall during Atmos this year, and also got permission to use the kitchen).
• helping in organising the logistics involved in Comic Con (Hyderabad)
• extension of library timings
• sending a contingent from BPHC to Waves.
• RO Water Purifiers (the SU has apparently been pushing this for a while)

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Article by Yogitha Garlapati and Mohammed Burk. Published 1st December, 2018