Ludhiana, April 17
With Municipal Committee, SGPC and panchayat elections to be held soon, the student community too is becoming restless to have elections for their bodies.
Encouraged by the coming into power of new government in the state, the students are now once again raising the demand of removing the ban on student elections. A few days back the ABVP demanded that elections should be held in colleges as was the practice earlier. The students also are feeling left out as they have no say in the administration of the college much to their annoyance.
This correspondent spoke to some of the students of GGN Khalsa College. Gagan Deep, Kanwardeep, Inderdeep, and Sachin Vashist, all students of final year BA said: “Of course election to the students body is a must specially when elections to every post are being held. We think the democratic process of election to students body should start at the earliest. Our selected representatives will be able to interact with the college management. Through dialogue a number of problems of students like improvement in the basic infrastructure of the college can be brought out. The toilets and canteens are in deplorable state. The elected students will work for the welfare of the students. Moreover, the students learn to exercise their choice during elections and learn practically how our country runs. Several of the established political leaders had started their career as ‘student leaders’ only. Once the students have their say, they can make the authorities look into their problems. With the students helping the authorities in running the administration, the colleges will function smoothly. “Give us responsibility. Don’t always mistrust us,” they said.
Students of Government College for Boys also felt that elections to student body are a must. Tanuj said, “Why are we deprived of freedom of choosing our leaders? Without our leaders we cannot put forth our demands for the authorities always turn deaf ear to our demands.” Shiv Bhandari said, “Some of the teaching faculty members are autocratic and the students are afraid of victimisation, so they keep quiet but simmering nonetheless. But with our own student body working for our interests, we will be a force to reckon with”.
Puneet Jindal said in spite of many complaints against the poor infrastructure of the college nothing had been done. “We sit on broken benches in stuffy rooms without fans. We are sure that if we had a students body, these complaints would have been taken care of. We are treated like dirt. Even if we want to know whether the next day is a holiday we are never told. Students Council can not only help in running the administration of the college but also in maintaining discipline by keeping an eye on the mischievious students. We demand annual elections. Last year we went on strike but had to give up after one day”.
Mr Gurdip Singh Sobti, Principal of GGN Khalsa College, was, however not very enthusiastic about Student Council elections. He said the students generally elected leaders who were not good in studies. Hence their endeavour was always to disrupt studies by organising strikes over petty reasons leading to non-completion of courses.
He said the students made many rival splinter groups which were often involved in clashes resulting in violence. He added that at times the students also made unreasonable demands.
The system adopted by us of picking intelligent and talented students that head different bodies like cultural, sports and class representatives is doing well. It is called Central Students’ Council. We are functioning amicably. The council had some problems regarding payment of fee in a lumpsum. We told them that the students could pay in instalments. We have devised a criterion of selecting students for the council. So the students accept the council members as the college is selecting very judiciously. I am against election of student council.”
Kamalesh Garg, in charge, Evening College at Government College for Boys, however, expressed diametrically opposite views. She said, “Elections for students body should be held annually. The posts that they hold will inculcate responsibility in them. Moreover, they would be groomed to shoulder responsibilities in future. Learning to shoulder the responsibilities of college administration would ultimately prepare them for higher demanding jobs that they will get later on. Besides, the students will gain practical knowledge of a democratic set up. They will become aware of their duties. The students’ formative years are spent in college. During this period, they can learn both theoretical as well as practical problems faced in leadership. If they are guided well, the students also know their good and bad points and won’t go on strikes unnecessarily. Let us repose our confidence in our younger generation.”
