Jabalpur: The path for student union elections in Madhya Pradesh has been cleared after nine years, with the government submitting the academic calendar to the MP High Court, stating that polls have been scheduled in September across all universities and colleges.
A bench of acting Chief Justice Vivek Rushia and Justice Pradeep Mittal took the information presented by the Higher Education Department on record on Monday, and dismissed a PIL stating that fees are being charged from students in the name of student union elections but polls are not held.
The process of forming student unions in government higher education institutions in the state has been stalled since 2017, impacting the democratic representation of students, said the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by student leader Adnan Ansari.
The government is not effectively implementing the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee, it claimed.
Hearing the petition earlier in January, the high court had directed the submission of the academic calendar for conducting the student body polls for 2026-27.
Last month, the government sought more time to file the plan, which it eventually submitted on Monday.
During the hearing of the PIL, the state government presented the academic calendar for 2026-27 and provided information about the provision for holding student union elections in September.
Government universities should issue guidelines to the state government to provide necessary police and administrative support to maintain law and order during student union elections, the petitioner demanded.
The HC bench directed the principals of colleges and vice-chancellors of universities to take necessary steps to obtain police and administrative assistance, if required, so that the election process can be conducted peacefully and in an orderly manner.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
