The students of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Pusa Institute, New Delhi, staged a protest today, December 15, after more than 50 students were denied the right to cast their votes for the PGSSU (Pusa Graduate School student union) elections held on campus.
The institute conducted the student union elections today, from 9.30 am to 2 pm, the students informed. However, despite a large number of student voters, only three ballots were made available and the number of students voting was much higher. Students cite this as the main reason why not all students could cast their votes within the allotted time.
“As compared to every year, the number of students this time was much higher. At 2 pm, around 50 students were still waiting to cast their votes. The authorities closed the gates and did not allow the students to practise their democratic right. Even when we asked them to extend the timing by half an hour, they threatened the students with the support of the Dean and Police,” a student of IARI informed, on the condition of anonymity.
Following this, the students launched a protest on campus, urging the authorities to allow the remaining students to cast their votes. A list of total 51 students who were not allowed to vote despite being present on campus was submitted to the authorities, undersigned by the participating PGSSU contestants.
The students informed EdexLive that there were other irregularities in the election process. It was alleged that this year, no voter list was published by the institution. Moreover, other students claimed that they were denied participation in the voting process as they were not issued an institute ID card.
“This is totally unacceptable. Every vote counts and every student should be allowed to vote. This is our student union elections that happen only once a year. We will need to reach out to these elected candidates for all of our grievances and complaints and we should be allowed to rightfully elect them,” another student from the institute said.
The students said that no authorities have addressed the protestors yet.
EdexLive tried to reach out to IARI New Delhi for a comment on the issue. The copy will be updated when we receive an official comment
