It’s official PU student body polls on Sept 3; code of conduct trashed soon after it comes into force
As per the poll code applicable on campuses, under the Lyngdoh Committee guidelines, the use of printed stickers is prohibited and only handmade posters are allowed.
Minutes after dean students welfare (DSW) Amit Chauhan announced the date for the Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) elections on Friday, effectively bringing the election code of conduct into force, members of the Students Organisation of India (SOI) broke the code, strewing party stickers at Student Centre.
As per the poll code applicable on campuses, under the Lyngdoh Committee guidelines, the use of printed stickers is prohibited and only handmade posters are allowed.
DSW Chauhan said that not just the use of printed stickers, littering will also invite action under the Lyngdoh Committee Recommendations. Not just the Student Centre, the passageway leading to the DSW office was also not spared as the members of SOI, the student wing of Shiromani Akali Dal, broke into a celebration after declaring their panel.
The stickers had to be hastily swept away before the DSW made his way back to his office.
This was not an isolated incident, as the Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP) had thrown stickers on the road leading to Students Centre on Thursday while members of Panjab University Students Union and Himachal Pradesh Students Union also littered the Students Centre with printed stickers. The National Students Union of India (NSUI) had also created a mess at the Students Centre on Tuesday which still hadn’t been properly cleaned.
Speaking about Friday’s event, SOI election in-charge for PU, Harkamal Singh Bhuregill said that while police and PU security were present at the spot, nobody told them to stop. “Even other parties for their announcements were using such stickers. After our announcement, the SOI volunteers in fact helped clean up the centre with brooms,” he added.
DSW Chauhan said that the security officials have been asked to go over the video footage so as to ascertain who was throwing the stickers and they will impose penalties accordingly. “While the Lyngdoh Committee Recommendations have now come into effect, if we see that any student who hopes to fight for the PUCSC elections also indulges in such activities, we may cancel the candidature of the candidate,” he added.
This point was also stressed upon later in an all-party meeting called by the DSW. However, in the past it has been seen that the university adopted a lenient view when it came to such violations. Fines of meagre amounts like ₹200 or ₹300 are imposed upon such incidents. Sarah of PSU Lalkaar, who was also present for the meeting, said such threats are made every year but rarely followed. She added that this infringement of rules must be dealt with strictly by the authorities.
