Cuttack: Authorities of Ravenshaw University here Tuesday postponed the election to the newly-proposed students’ councils amid widespread protests against the indirect poll.
Earlier, students’ wing of various political parties had opposed the indirect election model and formation of nine students’ councils in place of a unified students’ council for the university.
University authorities, however, had overlooked the protests and decided for a two-day election schedule beginning Tuesday.
The agitating students locked all the gates of the varsity in the wee hours Tuesday and did not allow anyone to enter the campus. They later staged a sit-in in front of the university main entrance seeking direct election to the students’ union. Activists of Biju Chhatra Janata Dal, National Students’ Union of India (NSUI),
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Democratic Students’ Organisation (DSO) participated in the agitation. Bowing before the agitating students, the university authorities issued a notification and announced postponement of the elections. “A committee constituted to look into the students’ union issues will meet August 24 and take a decision regarding the polls,” said Vice-Chancellor Prakash Chandra Sarangi.
In a related development, a committee of state unit of ABVP raised the students’ union issue with Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, who visited the city in the afternoon to participate in the convocation of Sri Sri University. “The HRD minister has assured us to intervene in the students’ union poll issue at Ravenshaw,” said ABVP leader Abhilash Panda.
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