Suryaa National Desk: Surya Education & Politics Desk: Campus Student Union elections which have been stalled for more than three decades in Universities and Affiliated Colleges of Maharashtra (Student... Surya Vidya & Politics Desk: The State Higher and Technical Education Department is moving fast to revive the campus Student Union Elections which have been stalled for more than three decades in universities and affiliated colleges in Maharashtra. After a long gap of about 33 years, the revised rules necessary for conducting democratic student polling in the varsity campuses will be officially finalized by January 2027, high-ranking sources have revealed. In 1992, the state government imposed a ban on student elections in the wake of violent incidents that erupted after the murder of a student union leader at a Mumbai NSS college. Then came the system of nominating class representatives on merit alone.
Meanwhile, despite provisions for conducting elections in the Maharashtra Public Universities Act-2016, the elections have been postponed due to security reasons and lack of procedures. Recently, the government has decided to restart these elections to promote student representation and leadership qualities in the campuses. Pednekar Committee for Drafting New Rules A 12-member high-level committee headed by Professor Suhas Pednekar, former Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University, has been entrusted with the responsibility of formulating procedures to conduct the elections in a transparent, peaceful and violence-free manner. The committee has studied the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee and the existing legal provisions and is preparing the draft regulations. The report will be submitted to the government by January, after which the Cabinet will approve the rules and notify them.
Elections without political interference Under this new framework, guidelines are drawn up to completely prohibit direct interference of political parties or contesting with party symbols in student elections. It will include strict limits on election campaign spending, restrictions on posters and banners, and provisions to disqualify students with criminal records or disciplinary action. If the rules are finalized in January, student protests will be unleashed across Maharashtra in the coming academic year.