Six years into existence, less than 50 percent campuses in India have implemented the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, says a new report. The Lyngdoh Committee was set up by the ministry of human resource development (HRD) as per the direction of the supreme court to reform students' elections in campuses notorious for money, muscle and even murder.

“46 percent campuses have implemented Lyngdoh committee recommendations; five percent partially implemented it,” says the report titled ‘Student Participation in Campus: Democracy and Governance in India’ by the Liberal Youth Forum (LYF), an NGO which works in campuses to advocate for good governance through citizen participation.

There is poor awareness about the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, as only 39 percent students have heard about it, according to survey. The states like Orissa and Assam and universities in Hyderabad and Delhi have implemented and monitored the guidelines of Lyngdoh Committee.  

However, faculties across India are not in favour of supporting students' elections. “Only 24 percent of the faculty supported for this. The reason for teachers not supporting elections is that the student politics distract students from academics,” said the 170-page report based on data collected from 78 higher educational institutions across 18 cities.

But according to report, almost two-thirds of students wanted election in the universities. “Around 73 percent of students support election indicating a general consensus among the students to have a system of representation based on a democratic process,” said the report.

The overwhelming majority of students, however, do not have much faith in the students' unions. “Merely 6 percent said that students' unions could solve their issues,” the report noted.

The campus politics and views on socio-political aspect hardly interest the students studying in universities, the report added. “Only twenty-five percent of the respondents wanted to be a student leader. Though the student leaders show lot of enthusiasm during the college days in politics, only a negligible per cent of them really think that politics could be taken up as a career,” it said.

Worst off, majority of private colleges do not encourage even election in their campus, according to study.

The study analysed opinions of students, youth leaders, student organisations, faculty members, managements and other stakeholders of 78 campuses.

Report findings in a nutshell:

•    19 percent of the respondents felt that the Students Council/Unions were working for the development of the campus.
•    Only 6 percent students believe that Students’ Union can solve their problems.
•    21 percent students reported that they had witnessed violence during Students’ Union elections and 37 percent linked campus politics with violence.
•    73 percent of the respondent students support election in colleges where nomination systems are in place.
•    Top universities like DU only a mere 25-30 percent votes during the elections.
•    Campuses like Kerala University and Calcutta University have turnouts of 80-85 percent.
•    Nearly 41 percent of the colleges do not have specific provisions relating to ceiling of financial expenditure for student candidates.
•    Financial expenditure of 18 percent of student candidates is over Rs 5000.
•    29 percent spend less than Rs 1500.
•    12 percent candidates get financial support from political parties.
•    41 percent campuses take no action if students violate Lyngdoh recommendations.
•    60 percent campuses have an election grievance redressal cell.