Pune: Student groups from across the political aisle on Saturday criticised Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) for issuing a notice late on Friday to hold a consultation on Saturday morning on student council elections.
Students also demanded that all 12 members of the state govt committee on student council elections be present instead of just two – Prabhakar Desai and Sanjay Kharat – who were present on Saturday. Students can also email PDFs to the same email ID before 12 noon on Monday. “Due to inadequate advance notice of the student consultation meeting held today, all student groups were unable to participate. An official said, “The notice about the meeting was submitted to SPPU on Thursday, so that there is enough time for the university to publicise it.
The student groups said the short notice prevented several organisations from participating and questioned the consultation process and demanded another meeting to ensure wider and meaningful representation. We demanded vertical and horizontal reservation, along with geographical representation, for fair representation for SC, ST, OBC, minority, women, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ communities in student elections,” said Abhishek Shelke, president of the University Students’ Struggle Action Committee, SPPU Unit. In this context, such a meeting should be organised once again to ensure meaningful participation and a constructive discussion,” said Ankita Tiwari secretary of ABVP at Pune University.
Furthermore, the questions and suggestions raised during the meeting were not properly documented till we asked for the minutes of the meeting to be recorded. “The meeting organised by SPPU regarding student elections was merely eyewash. Students on the university campus and across various affiliated colleges were not adequately informed about the meeting. Furthermore, the university did not demonstrate the seriousness that such an important discussion deserved. Secondly, the registrar of each university has been asked to collect the suggestions and objections from each stakeholder and email them to ‘[email protected]’. It is not practical for all members to be in one place. Hence, subcommittees are meeting stakeholders across the state and compiling the suggestions received.”
However, it was uploaded late on Friday.