DAV College candidates handed brooms, asked to clean up litter

Flyers and stickers scattered around campus irk authorities overseeing elections; presidential candidates of four parties made to clear up mess

You’ve made a mess and now you’ve got to clean it up. Presidential candidates of various student outfits contesting the Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) elections had to learn a swachh (clean) lesson the hard way as they were ordered by authorities of Dayanand Anglo Vedic (DAV) College, Sector 10, to clean up the mess spilling over from their poll campaign.

The incident occurred on the day nominations were announced. Students affiliated to Hindustan Student Association (HSA), Indian National Student Organisation, (INSO), Student Organisation of India (SOI) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) started shouting slogans and scattering pamphlets, leaving heaps of litter on campus.

Learning about the incident, deputy dean student welfare (DDSW), Deepti Madaan in a Whatsapp group made for ‘DAV Student Representation 2019’ asked all four presidential candidates, Lakshit, Abhijeet, Rajat Puri and Udesh Rana to report to the principal’s office.

Later, they were asked to clean the mess and submit a written apology to the principal.

Action was taken as the model code of conduct in place for the elections had been violated, said Pawan Kumar Sharma, principal of the college, “We are working hard to ensure fair elections. According to the Lyngdoh guidelines, we asked the students to clean the floors and issue an apology. In fact, strict orders have been issued against defacement and usage of printed material.”

The team overseeing the elections including Kiran Hooda, DSW, Navneet Sharma, deputy DSW and Madaan has been strictly implementing the code of conduct, sources said. There are CCTV cameras in a place for realtime monitoring while a WhatsApp group has been created with not just the candidates but also the party leaders for realtime communication.

Pawan Kumar has also written to the UT police for increased patrolling outside college after which the rush of cars in Sector 10 has reportedly been controlled.

“We have banned the entry of outsiders in college. Four students who were found to be facilitating the entry of outsiders have been suspended. We have issued warnings against violence and unfair practices,” Sharma said.

Udesh Rana, presidential candidate of the Student Organisation of India (SOI) unit of DAV College said, “Just before the nominations were announced, the students started shouting and littering because of which principal sir got agitated. Stickers of HSA and INSO littered the place but all four presidential candidates, Lakshit, Abhijeet, Rajat Puri and I as punishment were asked to sweep the floor.”

There is no litter on campus now, Rana added.

This ushers in a welcome change in the college earlier known for student election-related violence, which also led to the death of a student in 2015 when two student outfits INSO and HSA clashed.

Litter on PU campus proves it is not a swachh poll

Despite the model code of conduct forbidding littering, among other things, in place at Panjab University ahead of the Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) elections, scores of students affiliated to different student organisations on Monday did not give a thought to swacch (clean) campaigns and responsible behaviour, leaving paper scattered everywhere on campus on Monday.

Hundreds of stickers of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and Indian Students Organisation (ISO) littered the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) in the evening, hours after posters of various student organisations were removed by PU authorities.

Incidents of littering also occurred during the announcement of the names of candidates .

According to NSUI member Manoj Lubana, “This is election season and students enjoy the atmosphere during this time. We dis not leave behind any paper and did not intend to create a nuisance. We collected everything later.” Jagat Bhushan, dean students’ welfare (additional), said he was not aware of the matter but would look into it.