Ranchi University (RU) Students union poll is again expected to get deferred with the admission process still continuing despite the orders from the Vice-Chancellor (VC). However, clarifying the stance, RU, VC, Dr Ramesh Kumar Pandey has assured like last year, the much awaited students union election will not get lingered till December 2017. Pandey said that as per the academic calendar, efforts are being made to conduct the poll before Durga Puja (DP).
“This year, the student union poll will not get delayed in any circumstances. All officials at the university have been instructed to start preparing for the student union poll. Before the Puja vacation, the election will be conducted,” said, Pandey.
Notably, in 2016, the Students union poll procedure got over in December, giving not even a full tenure to the elected representatives to serve or to conduct any campus activity vested in students’ interest. The new academic session at RU begins from August annually. According to the lyndoh Committee guidelines, Students union election should be held annually. The poll must be conducted between six to eight weeks from the start of the academic session. The entire election process, from the date of filing nomination papers, campaigning and declaration of the results, should not exceed 10 days period.
The RU VC has also stated that after giving the instructions of closing the admission procedure for both Under-Graduate (UG) and Post-Graduate (PG) courses, few departments have already submitted the voter lists. He added that preparation of electoral roll will not take much time once the admissions get closed.
Taking into account, the deadline fixed by the RU VC for finalizing the electoral lists as per the discussion with the Head of the Departments (HoDs) and college Principals, RU, Dean Student Welfare (DSW), Dr. Prakash Verma, said, “After conducting meeting with the HoDs including the college Principals on August 18, the deadline for submission of electoral lists gets over on August 31. By then most of the departments will submit the electoral lists. However, after receiving a communiqué from Department of Higher and Technical Education recently to increase the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER), our priorities have increased considering the given target.”
Verma further added that only after ensuring admission in each department for the academic year 2017-18, concerned officials will start preparing for the upcoming Students union poll.
On the other hand, none of the elected representatives are convinced with the statements of university officials. Terming the efforts of the university personnel as mere a feeble approach to conduct peaceful election Ranchi University Students Union (PG) President, Tanuj Khatri, said, “It is simply impossible to conduct election before the Puja vacation. From September 11, semester 2 and 4 examinations will get started while from September last week, students will go on vacation. University will reopen on October 28. Moreover, the admission process is still going on, preparation of electoral lists will take some time.” RU VC Ramesh Kumar Pandey