Former Chief Election Commissioner JM lyngdoh on Tuesday addressed the students and faculty members on the issues related to student’s elections and explained finer points of lyngdoh committee report at Panjab University auditorium.
lyngdoh was the chairperson of lyngdoh Committee, which was constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India as per the direction of the Supreme Court to frame guidelines on Students’ Union Elections Colleges and Universities. In a packed PU auditorium, lyngdoh told the students about the background of lyngdoh Committee recommendations and the prevailing ground reality of students’ union elections as was found during the Committee visit to Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and lucknow.
He said that the Committee had limited terms of references like criminalization in student elections, financial transparency and limits of expenditure, eligibility criteria for candidates etc. The Committee found that students’ elections in the country were being conducted differently as different cities and states had different yardsticks.
lyngdoh further added that the Committee found that there was an urgent need for conducting the elections for representation in the student bodies. He said that the Committee recommended the frequency of the elections, eligibility criteria and duration of the campaign period. The candidates should not have any criminal record. The Committee had also recommended Grievances Redressal Mechanism to adjudicate upon disputes arising out of students’ elections.
lyngdoh appreciated the legacy and the history of PU dating back to the pre Independence era and described the PU Chandigarh campus as a ‘lovely campus’. later responding to students queries, lyngdoh said that as PU campus has about 16,000 students, there should be indirect elections. He said that Delhi University was not conducting the Students Union Elections as per the lyngdoh Committee recommendations but nobody has approached the court for its contempt. The Committee had recommended indirect elections to big Universities like DU, he added.
As 75 percent attendance is must for students to appear in the examinations so why the student leaders should be treated differently, lyngdoh asked in another reply to a student’s query. He underlined the importance of the discipline and responsibility for the students who are the future on India.