SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, May 21: Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University (BBMKU) has begun an exercise for holding the first students union election in the institution.
BBMKU vice-chancellor Dr Mukul Narayan Dev on Saturday said that if all goes as per plan, the election would be held in October after the completion of the new admission process of the graduation course.
“Student union election is due for a long time and it must be held. So, I have directed the concerned departments to prepare for that. If the situation remains normal in October and any pandemic (Covid) wave does not come, university administration would hold students union elections on a priority basis,” he said.
Vice-chancellor said he does not believe in leaving any matter pending and tries to dispose of all issues as soon as possible in the interest of the university as well as students and teachers.
BBMKU Dhanbad was made a separate university on March 23, 2017, by carving out from Vinoba Bhave University (VBU) Hazaribagh. Ten constituent colleges of Dhanbad and Bokaro were included in the new university.
However, student union elections have been a bone of contention between university management and students’ bodies. In wake of rising students’ demand and agitation four years ago in 2018 the then vice-chancellor Dr Anjani Kumar Srivastava announced to hold a poll. He even chalked out a detailed programme with university officials for conducting smooth elections. But due to unavoidable reasons, the university had to cancel the election at the last hour.
A senior official of the university said that due to the Lok Sabha election followed by the assembly election in the state in 2019, the student union election could not be held. After that due to the Corona pandemic lockdown in the state in 2020 and 2021 holding students union elections was not possible.
“Situation has now changed and the Vice-Chancellor has directed for preparation,” said the university official.
However, student unions are sceptical over elections in the university. “ Of course, we appreciate the announcement of the vice-chancellor but what is the guarantee that he will continue as university head till October. He is the vice-chancellor of VBU and holds an additional charge of BBMKU. A regular vice-chancellor may join the university and holds up the election.
