Shimla, July 25
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said the government would shortly frame a legislation to ban political indulgence of university teachers and also evolve a mechanism for ensuring violence-free elections to the student bodies all over the state.

Talking to media persons here today, Virbhadra said: “The government is very clear that university teachers should not be allowed to become members of political bodies or contest Assembly or Lok Sabha elections. We will shortly change the rules to ban their political activities.”

He explained that anybody keen to contest elections was free to do so but by first resigning from service and not expecting to get back the job in case he or she loses.

He said the government was concerned about frequent clashes and violence erupting in colleges, universities and other educational institutions. "I am not opposed to student politics and there being elected representatives. But the harsh reality is that under the present circumstances student elections only result in violence and vitiate the academic atmosphere on the campuses," he pointed out.

Virbhadra said seeing the clashes and violence on the campus, one is forced to think whether these elections should be allowed at all. "We will have a close look at various aspects and have a mechanism where elections are held peacefully and are not a grand affair like Assembly and the Lok Sabha polls,” he said.

With some of the university teachers devoting more time in building their political careers than teaching, there has been a demand that they should be barred from taking part in politics while being in service.

The political leanings of teachers result in students also being divided along political lines.