Buckling under pressure following protests held by Indian National lok Dal’s youth wing outside various universities to press for their demand of students’ body elections, Haryana Government’s committee constituted last year to give recommendations for these polls, on Monday announced to submit its report within next 15 days.
The State Government’s announcement in an attempt to pacify the agitators of INSO (Indian National Students Organisation) came within few hours of the beginning of protest on Monday during which main gates of several universities of Haryana were locked and dharnas were held outside the campus of these educational institutions.
The elections to students’ unions in colleges and universities of Haryana have not been conducted for the last 20 years.
The BJP led Haryana Government had last year announced to hold students’ union polls, albeit, indirectly. While a four-member committee constituted by the Government in June 2016 for making arrangements for these elections was to submit its report within three weeks, it has so far failed to submit the report even after the lapse of more than a year.
The committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Vice-Chancellor of Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar, Tankeshwar Kumar and other members of the committee included Vice-Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Bijender Kumar Punia, Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, KC Sharma and Registrar of Indira Gandhi University, Meerpur, Madan lal.
After INSO’s protest led by Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala and youth wing chief Digvijay Chautala outside various educational institutions in Haryana on Monday, the chairman of the committee, Tankeshwar Kumar gave them a written assurance to submit the report to the State Government regarding students’ union polls by September 1 or within next 15 days.
INlD MP Dushyant Chautala, who staged a dharna in front of the main gate of GJU at Hisar, while talking to the media persons said that the INSO is fighting to ensure that students' union elections are held in Haryana. The party had raised this demand in lok Sabha and also met the Governor and Chief Minister to raise the same issue, said he.
While alleging that the BJP Government has failed to fulfill its poll promise to resume the practice of conducting students' body polls, the MP said that the party will wait till September 1 and then, announce the future course of action.
INSO president, Digvijay Chautala, who protested outside Kurukshetra University along with party members, said that the main gates of 12 universities were locked on Monday to put forth our demand and we will continue to fight for the rights of students. The students’ body polls should be held by September or October in Haryana, he added.
Having lost three consecutive assembly elections in Haryana, the INlD has been making its last-ditch effort to regain lost political ground in the state. Eyeing political revival, INlD has been aggressively launching campaigns for construction of Sutlej Yamuna link (SYl) canal while its youth wing INSO, is focusing to reach out to the youth, by raising the issue of students’ body polls.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma has termed the protests held by INSO as a “flop show”.
He said that peace prevailed and classes remained unaffected in universities in Haryana despite of call for protest and bandh given by INSO.
Sharma said that committee of Vice-Chancellors constituted for conducting election to student councils in colleges of the state would submit its report to him within one week, after which he would discuss the report with Chief Minister Manohar lal.
The government will take decision after discussion with student organisations, he added.
The elections to the student bodies were banned by the then Chief Minister, Bansi lal, in 1996 in view of the unruly and violent behavior of some students group at that time.
Even as students’ union election remained a key poll issue in Haryana, the ban was not lifted during the INlD as well as Congress regime in the past one decade in the state.