The question of whether Jawaharlal Nehru University will finally have a students' union after a gap of four years will be decided by the student community in the University General Body Meeting (UGBM) on Monday.
Union elections had been banned by the Supreme Court back in 2008 for not adhering to the election code of conduct recommended by the Lyngdoh committee. However, in December last the Supreme Court had lifted its stay order and relaxed some of the recommendations.
But, the student community was divided over accepting the limited recommendations, with some feeling that the elections to JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) should be conducted according to the University's election procedures.
Representatives of all student associations and other students of the University will decide whether to endorse or reject the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the UGBM.
“There is little hope of any further legal recourse in the immediate future … no elected union has existed for the last three years, the SFI believes that the best option is to conduct the elections as per the new arrangement…. Any other option would amount to not having it at all,” said SFI general secretary Roshan Kishore, adding that the SFI had appealed to its fellow-students to endorse the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court.
Increase in the maximum age limit for M Phil/Ph D students from 28 years to 30 years, no attendance requirement and permission to use photocopied material during the election campaign with an expenditure limit of Rs. 5,000 per candidate are some of the relaxations permitted by the Supreme Court.The last election of JNUSU was held in 2007 when the Left-affiliated All India Students' Association had won all the four posts.
