Between Innovation and Reality: The Gaps in the Information Coordinators' Proposals

Sri City: On the night of 26th February 2025, Krea’s student body had come together to behold and question the big bold promises that the candidates for the Information Coordinators were to make. All 4 candidates steadfastly proposed their visions and plans as Information Coordinators, from implementing a Student Government Website to a newsletter for reporting monthly reports and more. Below is a breakdown of all that you need to know about the Information Coordinators' Speeches.

Amandeep: Aiming High, But Beyond Reach?

Amandeep (SIASUG23-27), a second-year Literature & Psychology student, highlighted his achievements as an IC last term while outlining new plans to further reinforce his suitability for the role. Newly, he proposed a comprehensive Student Government website, which, aside from furnishing various kinds of updates, would allow students to raise grievances to the relevant ministries.

When asked by Leher on how different the role of the website will be from the regular email updates, he replied, “This should not be an alternative that scraps sending out emails and consistent updates... This is just an initiative to increase accessibility.”

Further, he advocated for amending the restrictive policies of the constitution to allow more autonomy for societies and committees, although it goes beyond his designated ambit of power as IC’s can’t vote or take part in the discussions of the SG (3.3.5 Constitution).

When questioned on this, he replied, “Although the ICs cannot vote and they have to maintain neutrality, they can, for sure, spark conversations that can sway votes from other people… and it is the constitutional amendments ad hoc that actually will sort of take these proposals forward.”

Though he provided a comprehensive vision backed by his experience as an IC, only time will tell us how things turn out.

Arunima: Unclear Plans, Uncertain Voters

Arunima (SIASUG24-28), a prospective Economics and Computer Science major, offers new solutions to improve the accessibility, connectivity, and efficiency of information dissemination. She proposed circulating a comprehensive response form a week before the town halls to facilitate better discussions.

When asked by Leher on how efficient this will be compared to the system that is in place, she responded. 

“So the Idea of the response form came from the low participation in the grievance redressal forms, where they weren’t providing enough feedback… also utilizing social media, bringing the link in our stories, maybe will make it more accessible.”

Furthermore, to prevent the homogenization of the SG, Arunima pledged to document all opinions and ensure that every voice is heard.  However, when Leher questioned whether this would have any real impact on decision-making, Arunima clarified,“Minority opinions will be counted. But that does not mean in any sense, will it be given more weightage. So, it would not impact the decision making process”.

With no clear distinction between the response form and the grievance redressal form, their functions overlap. Combined with unclear ideas about using social media and similar platforms to increase student participation, the lack of clarity in her plans might leave the voters uncertain about what she aims to achieve.

Avanti: Bold Ideas, Limited Practicality

Avanti (SIASUG24-28), a prospective economics and data science double-major, while ambitious to continue her predecessor's work, aims to introduce a Student Government Newsletter to minimise the loss of information during dissemination. She also proposed maintaining an SG decision tracker by the ICs, which will help students stay informed about the status of their concerns raised.

When questioned by Leher to clarify how she went about implementing the Newsletter idea, she replied, “There were only two ICS in this term, so balancing a newsletter would have posed a problem, which is not the same for this term…And again, if we do put a task force together that will involve students from the student body who want to do this by themselves, I think it would be pretty easy maintaining the work”.

With an additional IC this time, the workload distribution may be more efficient. However, the challenge of distinguishing the newsletter from the monthly SG report remains unresolved. Additionally, it’s unclear how Avanti plans to engage the student body in contributing to the newsletter’s publication. While her ideas are ambitious, without refining her plans to address practicality and efficiency, they may struggle to take off.

Rakshitaasai: Identifying Gaps, But Missing the Details

Rakshitaasai (SIASUG24-28), a prospective psychology and economics double major student, assured she would perform her duties as expected from an IC while emphasizing her admirable leadership qualities. To promote efficiency, she proposed to set out clear guidelines on addressing student concerns, which involves categorising the concerns and directing them to the relevant ministries. 

When questioned by Leher on how an IC while maintaining neutrality ensures that the ministries  resolve student concerns efficiently, she responded that she will  “document every opinion, whether it's a majority or minority… and during internal meetings, whether offline or online, it is my responsibility to bring up all the opinions have been brought up during townhall” 

While her plans successfully identify gaps in the existing system, there is a lack of clarity on how she intends to implement them—whether it's setting up guidelines to address student concerns or organizing SG meetings every two weeks. To make an informed decision, we would need to see more of her vision and a clearer outline of her initiatives.

Closing thoughts: Ambitious Ideas vs Clarity in Execution

While campaigning their suitability for the role, all candidates have presented innovative solutions that appear promising on first glance, but they come with structural flaws and practical drawbacks, which makes it hard to achieve their goals. Be it the lengthy realisation process of getting a Student Government website or the Newsletter initiative with executional challenges unaccounted for, the ideas presented were less realisable in their current forms.

However, we hope that all the candidates take in the feedback received and work to minimize the gaps to have their plans become more practical and well-rounded. This will not only strengthen their proposals and increase their chance of success but also create a more competitive and engaging election.

(Written By S.Yugendhar)