Mumbai: In a bid to ensure that students get a say in the decision-making process to address various issues related to them on campus, several student bodies are demanding the reintroduction of student body elections in universities across the state. A delegation of students represented by the Maharashtra Students Union approached the state minister for higher and technical education, Uday Samant with this request earlier this month.
“For a university catering to more than 800 colleges, students’ complaints will come from different areas and will refer to one of several departments of the university. Having a point of contact who is an elected member, other than a senate member, is very important,” said Siddharth Ingle, speaking for Maharashtra Students Union (MASU).
In July 2019, the University of Mumbai (MU) released a schedule to conduct student elections. Starting mid-August 2019, nominations were to be invited from all MU affiliated institutes to fill up posts including student council president, secretary, reserved category representative (RR), and lady representative (LR) among others. This, however, was delayed first due to the 2019 state elections, and eventually due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
“Several issues of students go unheard because they don’t know whom to contact. Having an elected representative will make it easier for students to reach out to authorities, and ensure timely action,” added Ingle, and said that minister Samant has assured a response in this matter at the earliest.
Student elections were banned in Maharashtra in 1994 after a spate of kidnappings and violence became the trademark of campus politics. The violence reached a tipping point on October 5, 1989, when Owen D’souza, a student of Mithibai College in Vile Parle and a district president of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress party, was brutally murdered outside the college. Five years later, student elections were banned across Maharashtra.
The Maharashtra Universities Act 1994 had replaced elections with nominations for student representative bodies in colleges and universities. Students were hand-picked by college and university authorities based on their academic track record. With the new Maharashtra Public Universities Act 2016 replacing the old one, the state government has not only revived elections but has also widened its scope.
As per the new act, students in colleges and university departments can now directly elect office-bearers of their respective councils as opposed to indirect elections provided under the Bombay University Act 1974, which continued till 1993. Under this election process, students will elect their class representatives, who in turn will elect the chairman and the general secretaries of student bodies.
An official from MU said that student elections will once again have to be initiated by the state government and only then can state universities start work on the same.