Will Odisha See Campus Elections This Year? Minister Assures Decision In Students’ Interest

Bhubaneswar: With the BJP government in power, will Odisha finally get to see students’ union elections this academic year?

Campus elections have not taken place in the state since 2018. Prior to that too, college elections were stopped intermittently. While no student councils have been elected in the last six years on the pretext for maintaining peace on campuses, higher education institutions have been nominating student representatives to various bodies where it is required.

Speaking to the media, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj on Thursday said that discussions are on and the government will take appropriate steps in the interest of students.

In September 2023, palpable tension had prevailed on campuses as no date was set aside for the students union elections in the common academic calendar for the academic session of 2023-24 for universities and colleges released by the Higher Education department. Usually, the election is held prior to Durga Puja vacations (September-October).

There were protests in Utkal University here and Akhil Bharatiya Bidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) — the youth wing of BJP – also filed a petition seeking the Orissa High Court’s intervention in the matter.

College elections were cancelled in 2018 due to cyclone Titli. Even in 2017 when elections were last held, five universities, including Utkal and Ravenshaw, and eight colleges did not go to the polls due to student violence. In 2019, the elections were stalled because of campus violence and the then principal secretary, Higher Education, Saswat Mishra directed for cancellation of such elections till further orders while calling for nomination of students’ representatives to various bodies of higher education institutions as an alternative.

In 2020 and 2021, students’ union election were not held due to COVID-19 pandemic. The 2019 directive was neither cancelled nor modified in the subsequent two years.