Student movement reached its apex during the struggle for independence due to strong participation of students from all sections of the society. Prior to 1950, the student activism of the Indian National Congress were carried out by the youth wing of the AICC.
Post-Independence Movement
The student movement in Kerala and West Bengal gained momentum and resulted in the formation of the West Bengal State Chhatra Parishad and the Kerala Students Union under Congress. On 9 April 1971, a pan Indian students union was floated. In 2007 Rahul Gandhi changed the electoral process of the Union with open membership process and electing office bearers at all levels. This process allowed young leaders, without political background, to emerge from the grass root.
Membership
In order to become the member of NSUI, one must be under 27 years of age, must be a student, must be a citizen of India, must not be part of any other political organisation and must not have been convicted of any criminal activity in past. NSUI categorizes its members in to "Primary Members" and "Active Members". An aspiring member who applies for NSUI Membership, becomes a Primary member after the organisation’s scrutiny process.
The National Students’ Union of India, the students’ body of the Congress is preparing itself to execute the wishes of the party president Rahul Gandhi. In the recent plenary session of the party in New Delhi, Rahul had emphasised on the power of youth to revitalise the grand old party. Taking a cue from its party president, the NSUI — also a frontal organisation of the party — is channelising its energy for the general elections in 2019. The NSUI’s annual session in Jaipur is expected to have a gathering of around 10,000 students, youth leaders, Congress MLAs and MPs, and heads of all the frontal organisations of the party. The session, named Inquilab, will be held on 9 and 10 April. Interestingly, a two-day conference of the BJP Yuva Morcha began in Jaipur on 7 April, days before the NSUI session. These back-to-back conferences are being seen as a serious attempt by the Congress to give the BJP a tough fight for the youth vote share. "On the footprints of our leader Rahul Gandhi ji, the NSUI believes in fighting for the rights of the students on the basis of truth and morals. In this two-day session, NSUI will disseminate the message and decisions taken by the Congress president during the party’s plenary session, to all its cadres from across the country. It will be a training camp for our cadres in the run-up to the 2019 general election, in which first time voters will make a big difference," NSUI national president Fairoz Khan is behind the started of movement Inquilab in the country. The agenda of the two-day conference will be to raise demands for relaxation of age to contest Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections; setting up of a National Students’ Commission similar to National Women’s Commission and SC/ST commission; etc.
Under Fairoz Khan National President National Students Union of India leadership YouthQuake was organised by the NSUI at the Constitution Club of India. Discussions were held on various topics, including electoral reform, setting up of a students’ right right Commission, lowering the age of contesting elections and starting unemployment allowance. Organisations such as the Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha, AISA, SFI, AISF, Jharkhand Chhatra Sangh, Naga Students’ Union, representatives of the Sharad Yadav faction of the JD as well as student groups from Punjab, Telangana and J&K were present. "The ABVP is the only organisation we did not invite, because… it is these very people who, along with their government, are clamping down on student activism across campuses," alleged NSUI national president Fairoz
Students' Union elections
This 28-year-old Kashmiri youth Fairoz Khan is the face behind the National Student Union of India's victory in Delhi University student body polls Within three months of being announced the national president of Congress’ student wing, Fairoz Khan has made the party win in student body polls in the universities of four states—Punjab, Assam, Rajasthan and Delhi. Student of human rights department in University of Jammu, Khan was chosen by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi for the post. Khan, who belongs to a middle-class family of Pogal Paristan village in Kashmir, said, "We had trained 600 students at DU, with at least one student in every class, who discussed students’ problems. This process went on for a month before the election dates were announced. We did not ask the students to vote for NSUI. Our request to them was to Take Back DU." Until now, Khan has managed to keep the NSUI a step ahead of its bitter rival—the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Giving credit of the victory to his team and the youth of the national capital who voted against violence and ‘forced nationalism’, Khan said, "Connecting with the Nitish Gaur students face to face, and betting on the right people worked best for the party." He believes any sort of suppression tactic over the students will not help.
Controversies
In 2013, In November, two members of the NSUI were injured by police as they attempted to submit a memorandum to the district magistrate. In late November, the NSUI filed a complain with the police against Madhu Kishwar, a writer who ousted the journalist that had been allegedly sexually assaulted by Tarun Tejpal.
