With the comeback of Panjab University student council elections, student bodies’ grouse about the “outdated” Lyngdoh committee guidelines have also returned.
From upper age limit to contest the elections to mandatory 75% attendance, leaders of various student bodies at the university have expressed the need to overhaul the guidelines.
Recommended by a committee, headed by former chief election commissioner JM Lyngdoh, in 2005, the guidelines were accepted by the Supreme Court in 2006.
16 years later, student leaders say the guidelines, instead of keeping check on the elections, end up limiting the chances of deserving candidates, who are truly keen on working for students’ welfare.
While announcing the October 18 Panjab University Campus Students’ Council (PUCSC) elections on October 10, PU had decided to give a one-time, two-year relaxation in the upper age limit to candidates in view of the two-year gap in elections due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But student leaders say this still doesn’t address the real issue. According to Lyngdoh committee guidelines, only undergraduate students between the ages of 17 and 22 may contest the elections.
For postgraduate students, the maximum age limit is 24 to 25 years and for research students, it is 28 years.
{{/usCountry}}For postgraduate students, the maximum age limit is 24 to 25 years and for research students, it is 28 years.
{{/usCountry}}“The varsity has several students who are pursuing higher education beyond the ages prescribed in the guidelines. Thus, the upper age limit deprives deserving candidates, who hold more campus experience, of the chance to contest the elections,” said Amandeep Singh, state secretary, Punjab Students’ Union (Lalkaar).
On the other hand, the ₹5,000 cap on campaigning expenditure existed only on paper, he said. “There should be a proper check on the campaigning expenditure by various parties. Even the ban on printed posters and banners is being flouted with impunity. Besides, there is hardly any check on movement of outsiders on the campus,” he added.
Paras Rattan, from Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), the student wing of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who also contested the 2019 elections, also opined that there should be no upper age limit for contesting the polls.
“The education system has seen significant changes since the guidelines were implemented 16 years ago. So, the guidelines should also be reviewed,” he said.
Nikhil Narmeta of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), who contested the PUCSC elections in 2019, said the bar on the re-contesting the elections, irrespective of a win or loss in the past, should also be lifted. “The parties should be able to field candidates that they feel are capable of representing the students, irrespective of whether they lost previously,” he added.
PU’s former dean student welfare Navdeep Goyal agreed that certain rules needed a relook, especially the permitted expenditure for campaigning due to the rise in prices of various commodities.