The 15th State conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), which concluded at Pathanamathitta on Saturday, elected V. Vaseef from Kozhikode as its new State president.
Incumbent State secretary V.K. Sanoj has retained his position, while S.R. Arun Babu is the new treasurer. M. Vijin, Greeshma Ajayghosh, R. Shyama, R. Rahul and L.G. Lijeesh are the new vice-presidents, while Chintha Jerome, K. Rafeeq, Shijukhan, M. Shajar and Ramesh Krishnan are the joint secretaries.
Incumbent president S. Satheesh and K.U. Jenish Kumar, MLA, have been excluded from the State committee, which has set 40 as the age limit for its members. The new office-bearers were elected during a meeting held in the presence of CPI(M) Central Committee member E.P. Jayarajan.
Of the 90-member State committee appointed by the meeting, as many as 48 are new faces, while 13 in the 25-member State secretariat have also been replaced by new faces. Laya Maria Jaison, a transwoman from Changanassery, has become the first from the community of gender minorities to make it to the DYFI State committee, which also comprises representatives from the linguistic minorities, such as Sherif Khan of Lakshadweep and A. Raja from Munnar.
The meeting also selected the 116 delegates who will represent the State in the upcoming national conference of DYFI in Kolkata next month.
The four-day State conference drew to a close with a public meeting inaugurated by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat.
Among the key decisions by the State conference also included the decision to replicate the Morning Farm project by the DYFI Malappuram District Committee in all districts and expand the scope of its housing scheme for the homeless to more areas.
At least four centers will be established along the line of the Red Care centre by the DYFI Thiruvananthapuram District Committee to coordinate the services of health service volunteers. Plans are also afoot to open science clubs at the zonal level.
The State conference, which witnessed deliberations on the youth organisation’s functioning in Kerala over the past 42 months, also witnessed heated discussions over a handful of issues, including the allegations raised by Arjun Ayanki, an accused in a gold smuggling case, as well as the dissolution of its Chala Block Committee in view of alleged criminal connections of its office-bearers.
