Taking up the theme of the union leaders' ineffectiveness, Patel's batch-mate Dhiraj Sinha says, ``We had asked one of the faculty general secretaries to convince the faculty authorities that the Chemistry department instruments needed to be changed. That very GS and his sidekicks went on a rampage at the department soon afterwards, demanding explanations of how the development fee was being spent. Hardly any of us were interested in that''.

Adds Arna Dey, a final year student of the Faculty of Science, ``As it was, the instruments at the Chemistry department were overused and needed to be replaced. But instead of persuading the authorities to replace them, these leaders inconvenience us even more''.

``After all, the instruments damaged in the rampage are not replaced the very next day. So we have to take turns at practicals or wait till the test tubes and burners are replaced''.

Such grievances are not restricted to the Science faculty students. Says Tanuja Sinha, a final year student of the Faculty of Commerce, ``These (union) people are never seen in the campus at times other than the elections. Students do have problems but the self-styled leaders seem least bothered about them.

``There have been incidents of woman students being harassed, especially near the parking area and the Arts canteen, but we knew it was no use approaching the union leaders. We took up the issue with the faculty teachers and sorted out the problem''.

Adds Daksha Pandya, a post-graduate student of the Faculty of Arts, ``We have been demanding a proper canteen from quite some time but what good have these leaders been? On the contrary, a few of them have taken over the existing canteen and sit and discuss their plans there.''

Referring to the admission imbroglio that inevitably erupts at the Faculty of Commerce every year, Suresh Thakker of the Faculty of Arts says, ``There have been times when one cannot get admission forms for even this faculty. It's primarily because of these leaders that the forms disappear from the counters and the dates have to be extended.'' Kalpesh Pandya of the same faculty, too, complains that the union leaders invariably close down their classes if there were problems in another faculty. ``So our schedule, too, gets affected because of disruptions in, say, the Commerce faculty'', he points out.

The message, therefore, is strong and clear. But are those concerned listening?