The Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal is all set to issue an order changing the nature of student unions, primarily aimed at depoliticising them.
The proposed changes in the State — which has a long history of student politics having its roots before independence and produced not only MPs, Ministers, but also Chief Ministers like Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the incumbent Mamata Banerjee — have raised many eyebrows.
Education Minister Partha Chatterjee told journalists that the system of student union elections based on that followed by Kolkata’s St. Xavier’s College and Lady Brabourne College would be implemented across the colleges and universities.
While the government is yet to come out with a formal notification, details that have come to the fore point out that a principal or a college teacher will hold the post of student union president. A teacher of a college or university will also be the treasurer.
Other proposals are in consonance with the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Commission, making a certain percentage of attendance for students necessary for contesting union polls.
“I think holding elections every year is a waste of energy. I will ask the Education Minister to find out whether the St. Xavier’s model can be adopted,” Ms. Banerjee had said in an interview in March.
The aim of such a change is to depoliticise student’s unions. It is also aimed at doing away with the embarrassment of the ruling party over large-scale violence during the student union elections.
“Nothing can be called apolitical and if those above 18 years can exercise their franchise why cannot they have their elected representatives in colleges and universities,” said Madhuja Sen Roy, president of the Student Federation of India.
Debasish Sarkar, academician and general secretary of the Government Colleges Teachers Association, said: “This is a direct attack on the democratic rights of students. The proposed changes are a short cut method of trying to set things right.”
