Tribhuvan University (TU) officials and the student unions have agreed to hold Free Student Union (FSU) election by mid-April this year. The FSU poll, scheduled for last year, was called off following mass admissions aimed specifically at winning elections.

In a meeting with the TU Vice Chancellor (VC) Hira Bahadur Maharjan, Registrar Chandra Mani Poudel, Rector Guna Nidhi Neupane and Chief of Student Welfare and Sports Council (SWSC) Ganga Bahdur Thapa, the student leaders urged the officials to announce a fresh date for the FSU poll.

“The FSU poll should be held without a delay,” said Kishor Malla, chairman of the All Nepal National Free Student Union (ANNFSU) affiliated to the CPN-UML.
The Nepal Student Union (NSU) President Ranjit Karna told Republica that the fresh date would be announced within a week as soon as the students and the TU officials sort out the confusion surrounding mass admission last year.

SWCS chief Thapa said that students themselves have approached seeking a poll date this time, which is a positive sign.
If the poll is held this time, it would be taking place after five years´ gap as the last vote was held in 2009. Though meant to be held every two years, the disputes between student unions led to a long gap.

Student unions were initially divided over proportional electoral system, simple majority and mixed system. The poll that was going to be held last year after the amendment in FSU electoral system was later cancelled following the media reports that the student unions affiliated to various political parties had admitted hundreds of students in the TU constituent colleges across the country as a vote bank back up.

Some campus chiefs also told in public that the All Nepal National Independent Student Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R) affiliated to the UCPN (Maoist) and the ANNFSU had forcefully admitted students in drove, taking campus chiefs and administration official hostage until mid night to approve the documents.

Demanding the scrap of all mass admissions, the CPN-Maoist affiliated ANNISU-R had padlocked most of the TU constituent colleges in the Valley.

FSU has been mandated at TU constituent colleges since 1980 as per the TU Regulations on Organization and Educational Administration 1994, which were modified in 2001. It has to perform various functions such as involving itself in academic and creative activities at the colleges and at the university, maintaining an environment of learning and protecting student rights.

Meanwhile, both the TU varsity and the students have agreed to find a common ground on implementing the semester system within a week.

source: republica,28 jan 2014