State assembly elections have taken toll on student union polls due in October. The Department of Higher Education (DHE) has reportedly dropped the idea of holding student union polls in institutions of higher learning since Election Commission of India announced dates for state assembly elections.
“Now as the assembly election dates have been announced, we have to drop plans to hold students union polls in universities and colleges in the state,” said a senior of DHE. He stated that firstly the ECI won’t allow any other polls except for assembly polls in the state now, teachers who conduct student union polls are busy in preparations for assembly elections.
The election office has already pressed more than 80 percent of college teachers in election duty. “The remaining will also be roped into assembly poll duty so there won’t be any staff left for conducting student union election,” he said. As per academic calendar 2018-19, the student union councils were formed in September or October.
“We demanded from the DHE to hold student union elections in September so that assembly polls do not disrupt formation of student unions but our demands fell on deaf ears,” said student leader Vikas Nandwana. He alleged that the BJP-led state government never intends to hold student union polls.
The Supreme Court in 2006 had directed for implementation of the Lyngdoh committee recommendations on student union elections. For quite some years, the University Grants Commission, citing SC order pertaining to conduct of student union polls, have been writing to the universities across the country to implement the order and report back to it.
“For the sake of it, the government did loosely earmark the month of September/October for the election in academic calendar but barely actually holds the polls,” another student leader Nimish Jain said. Though the apex court had ordered in 2006 for conduct of student union elections as per Lyngdoh committee recommendations, the state government took six years to implement the order.
It held student union elections in 2011 but then suspended elections of subsequent years. The last election was held in 2017, after a gap of six years.
Polls at any cost: Lyngdoh committee
The Lyngdoh committee recommendations issued by UGC in 2006 state that student union elections should be conducted in direct or indirect manner or a hybrid of both over a period of five years. “Where the atmosphere of the university campus is adverse to conduct free and fair elections, the university, its constituent colleges and departments must initiate a system of student representations based on nominations, especially where elections are being held at present. All institutions must, over a period of five years, convert from the nomination model to a structured election model that may be based on a system of parliamentary (indirect) elections, or presidential (direct) system or a hybrid of both. It is highly desirable that all the institutions follow the mechanism of gradual conversion, especially for privately funded institutions that prefer a status quo,” the notification reads. Following these recommendations, the government held elections in 2011 for the last time in universities and colleges in the state.
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