Student organisations at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi met the Dean of Students today, September 11. In this meeting, the organisations have reiterated their demand for the JNU Student Union elections to be held at the university for the academic year 2023-24.
A letter, signed by the representatives of all the organisations has been submitted to the dean in the meeting. In this letter, the unions urge the dean to allow elections this year, without the interference of the administration.
It should be remembered that the last elections for JNUSU took place in the academic year 2019-20. In 2020, the elections could not take place due to the pandemic and subsequent lockdown and have taken place ever since.
This decision to meet the Dean was taken in a democratic all-party meeting, which happened on the night of Sunday, August 10. The delegates from the following organisations will be meeting the dean today:
1) All India Students’ Association (AISA)
2) All India Students’ Federation (AISF)
3) All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO)
4) Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA)
5) Bhagat Singh Ambedkar Students Organisation (BASO)
6) Collective Delhi
7) Chhatra Rashtriya Janata Dal (CRJD)
8) Chhatra Rashtriya Lok Dal (CRLD)
9) Disha Students Organisation
10) Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF)
11) Jawaharlal Nehru University Tamil Students Association (JNUTSA)
12) National Students’ Union of India (NSUI)
13) Progressive Students’ Association (PSA)
14) Reservation Club
15) Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha (SCS)
16) Students’ Federation of India (SFI)
As for the participation of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student union informed that it will be releasing a statement clearing the air around the same. However, it is alleged that ABVP was neither a part of the all-party meeting nor joined the rest of the student organisations to meet the dean.
Conduct independent, and immediate elections, demand student groups
As stated earlier, the student organisations are uniting in demand for the JNUSU elections – and in a free and fair manner.
“All students' organizations present in the meeting, after a democratic deliberation process, have reached a unanimous consensus that the JNUSU elections should be held as per the norms laid out by the JNUSU constitution and the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations applicable to JNUSU Elections as per the Hon'ble Supreme Court Judgement of 2011, with a duly elected student Election Committee at the helm of the election process and without any interference from the administration,” the letter reads.
The organisations demand that the Dean of Students “expedite the steps necessary for the commencement of the JNUSU election” for the current academic year, as Supreme Court guidelines state that they should be completed within six to eight weeks from the date of commencement of the academic year – August 16, in this case.
Stressing the need for a free election, the organisations further urge that neither the dean nor his office interfere in the election process under any pretext and that it be “completed under the aegis of a student-elected Election Committee, as laid out in the JNUSU constitution.”
Furthermore, the organisations also ask that the age limit for candidates in the elections, which was set by the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, be relaxed, as the elections were not held in the last three years. The Lyngdoh Committee recommended an age limit of 17 years old to 22 years old for undergraduate (UG) candidates, 25 years old for postgraduate (PG) students, and 28 years old for research scholars.
Against this, the organisations argue that as the JNUSU elections have not happened since the 2020-21 academic year, students have been “deprived of their right to participate in and contest the elections for three years”, and would continue to do so due to the age limit.
Referring to Delhi University’s relaxation of candidates’ age limit, the letter urges the dean to take similar steps as they deem it “imperative that these students do not get punished by being deprived of the opportunity to contest JNUSU elections due to the administration's incompetence.”
In addition, the organisations also urge the dean to reverse the “unilateral changes to the collection of the JNUSU fees, required for the conduct of the JNUSU elections”, and ensure that there are no financial problems during the election process.
With all these demands thus stated, the student organisations demand that the Dean of Students fulfil these demands, and “ discharge the duties mandated by (his) office fairly and transparently and expedite the JNUSU elections process for the academic session 2023-24.” They also demanded a response to the representation from the Dean in 48 hours.
