Mumbai: ‘Bring back college polls immediately’

Student unions have demanded that the Mumbai University MU introduce student council elections this yearAfter almost 30 years student elections were to be held in 2019 but the process was delayed Ever since the decision to resume holding the polls was announced the youth wings of political parties have been working tirelessly increasing their strength via membership drives and appointing oncampus officebearersIt is against regulations for any outside organisation or person to participate interfere and campaign in these elections and student bodies are determined to make their presence felt by endorsing candidates in various collegesFor many years the state government has been considering the feasibility of holding student elections across Maharashtra Since 19921993 the polls have been prohibited due to rampant fraud violence and the death of a firstyear law student Owen DrsquoSouza at Jitendra Chauhan College of Law at Mithibai College campus in Vile Parle in 1989By altering the 1974 Maharashtra Universities Act the banmdashthat forbids posters leaflets and bannersmdashwas put into effectAmol Matele Ashish Dwivedi and Manoj TekadePrior to 2019 the faculty of each department of the university nominated a student to the student council Those nominated to the student council then elected a general secretary The Lyngdoh Committee report however called for direct elections for studentsIn 2019 the MU released a schedule for student elections which were to take place around August and September 2019 However the process had to be postponed because of the ongoing state elections then The varsity had even begun accepting nominations from all its affiliated institutes But then COVID19 hitStudent organisations are now urging colleges across the state to resume the practice now that the new academic year is in sessionAlso Read Mumbai Poor attendance Chill if you are in DY Patil UniversityManoj Tekade of Prahar Vidyarthi Sanghatana said ldquoIn 20172018 we had moved the Bombay High Court which subsequently directed that elections be held in educational institutes as per recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee Delay in appointing the vicechancellor and other officials seem to have hit the processrdquo Stating that there is no justification for further delaying the procedure Tekade said ldquoNot having representatives is the root of a number of difficulties that students face on campusrdquoMaharashtra college and university campus politics have been a training ground for many political veterans like the late Congress leader Gurudas Kamat BJP leader and former state education minister Vinod Tawde and NCP leader Jitendra Awhad Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray headed the Yuva Sena when he was with Shiv SenaSantosh Gangurde state chief organiser Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena said ldquoThe university administration is least bothered about conducting the polls as this will lead to paralysis of daytoday academic activities and will sabotage the interest of stakeholders The student council plays a significant role in voicing student issues Student elections have in the past proven to be a stepping stone into mainstream politics Given the recent political turmoil in Maharashtra it seems we need to have student elections to improve the quality of tomorrowrsquos leadersrdquoAshish Dwivedi Mumbai president Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti alleged that the university administration and the state government do not want students to be involved or participate in politics so that ldquotheir arbitrariness continues and unopposedrdquoldquoIt is wrong to stop the union elections because of something that happened decades ago With security arrangements in place they can be conducted smoothlyrdquo he saidAdvocate Amol Matele an NCP spokesperson and leader of the Nationalist Student Congress said the government must address the issue on priority as it affects people across party lines ldquoWe need to leave the past behind and work on creating leaders instead of suppressing studentsrsquo voices by not giving them an opportunity to riserdquo he said