I Need to Talk About What’s Happening in Our Agriculture Department. I don’t even know where to start, but I’ll try. We are agriculture students. We pay our fees, we show up, we try. But somewhere between enrolment and actually learning something, the system completely forgot we exist. We don’t have a department. Not a real one. We sit in an auditorium — yes, an auditorium — the kind of hall meant for events and ceremonies. That is our “classroom.” There are no proper desks. We balance our notebooks on the arms of auditorium chairs and try to write while a lecture is happening. Try it once. It’s exhausting. Now imagine doing it every single day. And the fees? Over ₹50,000. In a government college. Let that sink in. Students here are not rich. Most of us are struggling. In the second semester, the whole class — not one or two people, the whole class — had to write a joint application just asking for more time to pay. That moment said everything. Nobody could afford it on time. Nobody. Some of us missed out on scholarships because we didn’t hit 75% attendance. But here’s what nobody asks — why were we absent? Some of us couldn’t afford the bus fare every day. Some of us were admitted late because the fees were due before we even had the money. Life doesn’t run on a college schedule. But the rules don’t care about that. We have no field -No nursery, and no proper lab. We borrow space from the Botany and Microbiology departments just to do basic practical work. Agriculture without land is like swimming without water. What exactly are we supposed to be learning? The first semester actually gave us something to hope for — they took us on field trips. Twice. It was genuinely good. We saw real things, touched real soil, and felt like real Agriculture students. Then the second semester came, and all of that just… stopped. No trips. No explanation. Back to the auditorium. Back to the chairs. Back to pretending this is normal. It’s not normal. In our department, a classmate once complained to our teacher that practicals are not being conducted properly. The very next day, a senior faculty member walked into our classroom unannounced. For a full hour, she addressed the entire class, firmly defending the department’s dedication and hard work. She even asked the class, “Who is the one who said that practicals are not conducted properly here?” — but the classroom went completely silent. She made it clear that our practicals were not only well-managed but were among the best in the institution. It was a moment that reminded us all to think twice before raising careless complaints. We’re not asking for a fancy campus or expensive equipment. We’re asking for a room with desks. We’re asking for a field to practice in. We’re asking for fees that match the reality of what’s being provided. We’re asking for someone to look at us and see students — not just numbers on an enrollment list. We chose Agriculture because we care about it. We’re still here because we haven’t given up. But we deserve better than this — and someone needs to say it out loud.
