This picture is taken from Jagran archive.
Prince Kumar, Darbhanga. The University Syndicate elections were held in Lalit Narayan Mithila University in February 2020 for a tenure of three years, but even after three years of the end of the tenure, the second election has not been conducted yet.
This situation is not limited only to postponement of elections, but it also raises serious questions on the legitimacy and decision process of the highest executive body of the university.
As per the rules, the Syndicate is considered to be the backbone of the administrative, financial and policy decisions of the university. As per the University Act and Statutes, the tenure of the Syndicate members is for a fixed period of three years.
The tenure of the syndicate formed in February 2020 had ended in February 2023. After this, it was mandatory to hold new elections, so that the decision process of the university remains democratic and transparent.
But the surprising thing is that almost three years have passed since the end of the term, yet neither the elections were announced nor any clear deadline was fixed for it.
According to the notification issued by the University, under Section 22(1) of the Bihar State University Act, 1976, the Syndicate members were elected for a period of three years from 01 February 2020. In which, Dr. Prem Mohan Mishra and Dr. Ashok Kumar Mehta were selected in the teaching cadre elected for the syndicate.
In the Assistant Professor, Lecturer category, Dr. Amar Kumar, Dr. Dayanand Paswan were selected. Whereas, in the non-teaching cadre, the names of Imteyaz Shaukat, former MLA Dr. Faiyaz Ahmed, Baidyanath Chaudhary Baiju, Dr. Dhaneshwar Prasad Singh and Sujit Paswan are included.
Not only the elected members, but the three-year tenure of the syndicate members nominated by the government and Raj Bhavan has also expired. Generally, nominated members are appointed from the level of the Government and the Chancellor to maintain administrative and academic balance.
But the present situation is that despite the expiry of the tenure of the old nominated members, new nominations have not been made for the syndicate. According to sources, the reasons behind non-holding of elections are administrative apathy, lack of coordination between the government and Raj Bhavan and the university administration not sending the proposal on time.
However, no official explanation has been revealed yet regarding these reasons. Due to which an atmosphere of dissatisfaction is being created among teachers organizations, employee unions and student representatives.
Question on university autonomy
Academics believe that a constitutional body like the Syndicate remaining vacant or incomplete for a long time weakens the autonomy of the university.
Important decisions like budget approval, new appointments, academic reforms and development plans are either postponed or taken within a limited scope, thereby affecting the progress of the institution.
Now the big question is that when the tenure of three years was fixed, why was a new syndicate not formed even after six years. Even three years after the end of the stipulated tenure, if the old members are still taking decisions, then what is the legality of it?
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