'Why is MU charging graduates to register online for senate poll?'

The Maharashtra Students Union MASU has objected to Mumbai University MU levying an online registration fee of Rs 20 for graduates who intend to cast their vote in the upcoming senate election which is scheduled to take place at the end of this year or beginning of 2023 In the last poll held in 2017 no such charges were levied on students Moreover teachers and principals who are also entitled to register and vote have been exempted from paying the feeMASUrsquos contention is that MU has sufficient funds and its insistence on students paying the fee is against the principle of free and fair elections If the Election Commission conducts general or any wardlevel elections including polls for seven graduate constituencies using its own funds why is MU charging graduate voters to registerrdquo asked Advocate Siddharth Ingle who is also the founderpresident of MASUMASU representatives on November 24 met the acting ViceChancellor of Mumbai University Dr Digamber Shirke and Dr Ajay Bhamare provicechancellor and sought on behalf of students from nine districts of Maharashtra affiliated to MU to know the purpose of levying the fee A written submission was also presented to the university officials during the meetingAdvocate Ingle said ldquoWe have been assured in the meeting that the university would soon respond to all our issues and objections highlighted in our submissions We are awaiting the reply and if the need arises we will not hesitate to take up the matter to courtrdquoAlso Read Mumbai University chaos Exam centre says we canrsquot hold tests leaves 58 students in lurchHe added ldquoThe University of Mumbairsquos election department released the Public Manifesto for Senate Election 2022 on November 9 The university is in the process of preparing a new electoral roll for the fresh election of 10 senate members for graduate constituency posts in the senate and all graduates including passedout students are called to register online paying Rs 20 which we have objected to along with other issues that have been raised by our unionrdquoldquoWe were not satisfied with the vague answers that were coming from the seniormost officials of the university who cited policy decisions for levying the fee The worst is that to become eligible voters the payment of Rs 20 is mandated which is against the democratic setup of conducting free and fair elections in our country We have sought the response in writing so that we can decide our next move accordinglyrdquo said IngleThe other issues raised by the union include an extension of time for online registration ldquoThe online registration process started on November 9 and will be closed on the evening of November 28 This is unfair to those who reside on the outskirts of Mumbai and in rural areas Other universities started the registration process almost two months ago Mumbai University has kept the registration window open for mere 20 days which clearly shows that they are not interested in a large voter turnout This is nothing but malice of extending favour to candidates affiliated to mainstream political partiesrdquo he addedAdvocate Ingle alleged ldquoThis also shows the level of political interference within the functioning of the university where dynastic politics and larger established political parties play a crucial role in pushing their respective predecided graduate candidates and this derails the purpose of having the genuine student representation through nonpolitically affiliated candidates And by doing this grassroots leaders are deprived of contesting senate elections and raising moot issues which are affecting lives of over 8 lakh students directly or indirectly affiliated to Mumbai UniversityrdquoHe added ldquoEven today unfortunately many students from the outskirts of Mumbai and rural areas have not heard about the senate elections nor do they know about the crucial role of the senate in studentsrsquo livesrdquoActing VC speaksDr Shirke told midday that the decision to levy the online charges had been approved by university authorities and it was not an administrative decision ldquoSimilar decisions have been taken by other state public universities as well Moreover the said charges are levied as per the statute which is approved by the state governmentrdquo he saidOn extending the deadline for online registration Dr Shirke said ldquoWe have been getting numerous requests in person and writing from various student organisations and we are considering extending the online registration date by at least another two weeks The university will be issuing a circular on this in a day or twordquoMeanwhile highly placed MU sources informed midday that late Saturday evening the universityrsquos election department issued a fresh circular extending the date for online registration of voters to December 13Asked if the date for conducting the election had been finalised the acting VC replied in the negative stating ldquoThe senate election date is yet to be finalised but it may not be before this yearendrdquo Dr Shirke appealed to all the graduate passouts from MU and affiliated colleges to register themselves for the elections and cast their vote2017The year last senate election was held