SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Oct 3: The office-bearers of Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University (BBMKU) Teachers’ Association will be elected through direct voting of teachers rather than delegates.
The election is scheduled for next month.
Chief election officer Dr SKL Das said that since the number of permanent teachers in the university is limited, direct voting of teachers can be adopted for the election of office bearers.
“Delegates used to elect office bearers when Ranchi University was the single university in south Bihar. It was not possible for all teachers to assemble in one place. So, delegates (one among five teachers basis) were elected in each college to vote. But now due to a limited number of permanent teachers in colleges, direct voting can be adopted,” said Dr Das.
The first election of BBMKTA was also held through direct voting in 2018.
The coordinator of the BBMKUTA poll, Dr KM Singh, (PG HoD English) said that officially he would not make comments but the AGM would decide the policy on the voting pattern. “I have sought the list of voters from all the colleges. A final decision would be taken after getting the list,” he said.
The lone senior-most teacher of BBMKU, Dr JN Singh (1981 batch), principal of RSP College Jharia, who has the credit of participating in the elections of three universities (Ranchi University, VBU Hazaribag, and BBMKU Dhanbad), said that since only 10 constituent colleges are in the university, office bearers should be selected through direct voting of teachers. Dr Singh was also one of the members of the committee which conducted the RUTA election in the 1990s.
After Dr JN Singh, Dr BK Sinha (1982 batch teacher) is the lone voter who participated in the election of the three universities.
The first election of VBU TA Hazaribag was held through delegates in 2013 in which Dr BN Singh and Dr Balbir Singh Sidhu were elected president and secretary respectively.
However, the 2015 election of the state body Federation of University Teachers Association of Jharkhand (FUTAJ) was held in Dumka through direct voting. Dr NK Singh of SKMU defeated Dr Balbir Singh Sidhu for the post of president.
The Kolhan University Teachers’ Association (KUTA) Chaibasa also elects office-bearers through direct voting of teachers. KUTA president Dr Rajendra Bharti said that in the first election of KUTA in 2016 delegates selected office-bearers but in the second election in 2021, direct voting of teachers was adopted.
Sidho Kanhu Murmu University (SKMU) Dumka Teachers’ Association general secretary Dr Santosh Kumar Sil said the office bearers in his university are elected through direct voting of teachers and not through delegates.
Dr Jitendra Aryan, the spokesperson of the outgoing committee, said a proper decision would be taken on time.
