Ravenshaw Students’ Council elections put on hold till further notice

Cuttack: With students' unrest gripping the Ravenshaw University over the new model of election, authorities on Tuesday put the Students’ Council polls on hold till further announcement.

Informing to the media, Chairman, Council of Deans, Gouranga Nanda said, “Elections could not be conducted as there is an atmosphere of discontent. We could not even enter the administrative blocks and offices, so at last we had to issue the notice of elections postponement at a separate quarter,”

“Elections have been postponed indefinitely till further notice since we have to go through election process all over again and re-elections depend upon different factors. We might have to change the process if we go as per the demands of the students, so Election Commission’s re-approval is also needed. We will have to inform the government as well. Besides, teacher’s council also needs to work out the modalities,” Nanda added.

Today morning, students of the varsity continuing their protests against the authorities, staged a sit-in before the main gate and threatened to disrupt the elections of representatives to the Students' Council. 

Apprehending any eventualities, the administration had deployed police force at the varsity campus. 

Earlier on Monday, the university had released the detailed notification of the elections. While elections for each of the nine schools were scheduled today, the Convenor and Deputy Convenor for the council would have been selected tomorrow. Vice Chancellor Prakash Chandra Sarangi had cautioned students to step down from protests so that elections could be conducted smoothly.

University authorities came up with an idea to set up Students Council instead of a Students Union earlier on August 10. The decision was aimed to curb election related violence inside the campus. But the move was sharply criticised by several students' unions.