Concerned over relentless violence in the campus and loss of teaching hours due to high-voltage electioneering for the students’ union, the Ravenshaw University authorities have decided to decentralise this year’s election process so as to form a students’ council of the university instead of students’ union as was formed earlier.
Briefing mediapersons here on Thursday, Vice-Chancellor Prakash Chandra Sarangi informed that the new model is aimed at having decentralised direct elections to form a Students’ Council that would assist the university to carry out its academic mandate of the year. He said the alternative model of election was proposed by the university’s Executive Council and it has been endorsed.
But soon after the announcement was made by the Vice-Chancellor, students’ wings of various political parties questioned the decision alleging that the university authorities are Ravenshaw adopts new model for student elections trying to hijack the democratic rights of the students through an alternative model of elections to the Students’ Union.
The All India Democratic Students’ Organistion (AIDSO) even threatened to knock at the doors of judiciary against the proposed model.
The new model suggests having separate direct elections among the students of the university’s nine different schools to elect their respective class representatives. The elected class representatives would automatically become members of the Students’ Council and they would elect from themselves a convener and a deputy convener of the council.
Similarly, the elected class representatives would also elect from themselves office-bearers to manage different societies like Athletics, Dramatic, Day Scholar Association and Social Service Guild.
A political scientist himself, Prof Sarangi said the new model of election addresses some of the fundamental aspects of popular democracy like decentralisation and direct and enlarged base of representation through secret ballots. The model has been worked out after in-depth consultations among various stakeholders, he informed.