Student politics makes a comeback on Maharashtra campuses after 26 years

Student Council Elections (SCE) in universities across Maharashtra are slated to make a come back before September 30 next year. Student wings have welcomed the government move, suggesting some changes to the format nonetheless. SCE were banned in 1989 in the state after student activist Owen D'Souza was murdered that year.

Education Minister Vinod Tawde declared that SCE will begin after 26 years from the next academic year and all polls will have to be completed by September 30.

The candidates eligible to contest elections will have to clear all their exams and should not have any ATKT (allowed to keep terms) ie failed subjects awaiting reexamination. The age limit will be 25 years. No hate speech will be allowed during the election campaigns and political interference will not be tolerated.

A candidate will be allowed to contest election for four different posts, namely president, secretary, women representative, and representative from the reserved category, depending on the fitment. The university council elections will be held after the college-level elections.

Tawde said, "In the early nineties, student council elections were banned after a murder took place, allegedly due to political rivalry.

The government then came up with the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016, under which it formed statutes for conducting elections. The students can use innovative ways of campaigning for their candidates through unique posters and also use social media as a tool."

Opposition leaders have also welcomed this move to reinstate college elections in Maharashtra after a gap of 26 years.

Sadaf Aboli, former NSUI president, said: "Better late than never is what I can say. After banning student elections, we could see a sharp decline in youth leadership and their interest in politics. Keeping anti-social elements out of the picture from these elections must be the prime focus of the authorities. Like in DUSU elections, a separate body should be formed under the chairmanship of the vice chancellor, to monitor the proceedings."

Amol Matele, Mumbai President, Nationalist Student Congress, said, "We have already formed an unit of our student's wing in every college and we have begun preparing for the SCE. Our candidates will win the election in every college. We think that the government should make changes and finish SCE by July as every college will be holding their first semester exams in September."

Functions and duties of the Students' Council :

• To look after the welfare of the students
• To promote democratic outlook, civic sense and spirit of oneness
• To promote and coordinate extra-curricular activities of different students associations and committees
• To promote and maintain discipline among the students on campus
• To organise various activities to promote cultural, social, and personality development of the students
• To assist proactively in resolving difficulties and grievances of the students within its jurisdiction
• To suggest innovative ideas and schemes for students' welfare to the respective competent authorities

A BRIEF HISTORY OF STUDENT COUNCIL ELECTIONS

College groupism, lobbying, violence, kidnappings, murder and the active involvement of gangsters were the order of the day during students council elections in the late 80s.

Considered it a stepping stone to a career in politics, the elections for the class representative and general secretary were keenly fought in every college campus across Mumbai.

On October 5, 1989, Owen D’Souza, a first year law student at Jitendra Chauhan (JC) College of Law in Vile Parle was murdered outside the college. D’Souza’s murderers were never identified, but the family claimed he was a victim of political rivalry.

In 1992, student elections in Maharashtra were finally banned. Repeated outbreaks of violence was the main reason behind it. Soon, the Maharashtra Universities Act, 1995, also came into force.

Some of the present day leaders like Bharatiya Janata Party’s Vinod Tawde, Congress’s late Gurudas Kamat, Nationalist Congress Party’s Jitendra Avhad, and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s Raj Thackeray began their political career as student leaders.

Source: RNA