V-Cs to meet to discuss student polls
Classification of universities must be submitted in court
LUCKNOW: The higher education department has called a meeting of vice- chancellors of all universities on November 25 to discuss restoration of student union in universities and colleges.
As the clamour for student union polls is getting louder on campuses, the meeting is aimed at deliberating upon clearing the decks for the union polls.
However, the impediment is that the student union poll is now a sub judice matter. There is a petition in court seeking clarification on classification of universities into big, medium and small. The Lyngdoh Committee has recommended different form of polls, direct for small universities and indirect for big, depending on the students’ strength. The state government will now have to do classification and submit it in court.
“Lucknow university administration alone cannot take a call on conducting students union election. The state government and district administration has to clear the bottlenecks before polls can be held. The state government has called a meeting on November 25 for threadbare discussion on the issue. We will do exactly what the state government tells us. The Lucknow university is not against the democratic right of students,” LU vice chancellor SB Nimse told HT on Sunday.
However, though the LU Student Union (LUSU) poll is still far away, already the student leaders have intensified their activities on campus in a big way.
On Saturday, the All India Student Association (AISA) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) fought a pitched battle on the campus. “It was more a show of strength than war of words. The student leaders of both outfits unleashed terror and disturbed the peace- ful academic atmosphere on campus,” said a member of the proctorial board.
On October 31, some student leaders carried out a referendum on the university campus, asking students whether the student union polls should be revived. The leaders even formed a body called the Chhatra Sangh Bahali Morcha.
According to student leaders, 4,418 votes were cast in both the old and new campuses of the university. While 3,813 students voted in favour of a student union, just 586 voted against it. After the results, the student leaders reportedly met vice chancellor SB Nimse and informed him about the prevailing sentiment.
On November 3, student leaders staged a dharna outside the vice chancellor’s residence, demanding restoration of the students union. The police were called to disperse the crowd.
The LU student union polls were last held in 2005. In 2006, the dates were announced but the election was not held, after Samajwadi Party student leaders resorted to vandalism during campaigning. The then vice-chancellor RP Singh had ordered sine die closure of the university and thereafter, union elections were never held.