AMU wants women on campus, not at ballot box

Why in the News

About 4,000 students of the Women’s College of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) belong to the university but cannot vote for its students’ union, a right they held only in 2010-11 and 2011-12. The AMU Students’ Union (AMUSU) elections on November 5, the first in eight years, have revived their demand for a vote and raised concerns over gender discrimination.

How is the Women’s College kept out of the main union?

1. Women’s College: It is a constituent college, meaning part of AMU itself, on a separate campus near the main one. It began as a girls’ school in 1906 and became an undergraduate institution in 1937.
2. Two unions: Its students vote only for the Women’s College Students Union (WCSU), not for AMUSU, the whole university’s union. It is like one wing of a housing society having no vote for the society’s committee.
3. Same exams, separate classes: Boys and girls pass the same admission examinations, but girls are placed in the Women’s College even for the same courses. Students call this “inherent patriarchy” and allege unequal faculty and infrastructure.
4. The takeaway: Women’s College students are affected by AMUSU decisions but have no say in electing it.

How did women students lose the AMUSU vote?

1. Brief voting window: Women’s College students voted in AMUSU elections only after AMU implemented the Lyngdoh Committee report. The report favoured direct elections, in which every student votes for the union’s office bearers, in universities with a single campus.
2. 2012 reversal: A five member committee set up in 2012, headed by a law professor, favoured returning to the system where these students could neither vote nor contest.
3. Stated grounds: The university justified the restriction by citing “geographical distance” and the separate union at the Women’s College.
4. Regulations, 2019: The AMU Students Union (Conduct of Election) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019 specify two different unions and two different elections for AMU and the Women’s College.

Why has the demand returned now?

1. Four year degree: Under the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, fourth year Women’s College students live on the main campus, not in its hostel. They still cannot vote in AMUSU.
2. Dual voting demand: A group called The Concerned Female Students of AMU submitted memoranda on October 12 and 16 seeking an AMUSU vote in addition to their WCSU vote.
3. Hurried polls: The Women’s College chief election officer said the decision to hold the elections was taken in a hurry, but cancelling them after long student struggles was no solution.

Why does the vote matter for women’s representation?

1. No woman at the top: In 106 years, no woman has been elected AMUSU president, vice-president or secretary. Women have served as cabinet members, the first in 1953-54.
2. Small women’s electorate: With the Women’s College barred and few women on the main campus, students argue that no woman can realistically become an office bearer.
3. Other fee payers: Students at the three off campus centres in Malappuram, Kishanganj and Murshidabad also pay union fees but have no vote or elected representatives.

Challenges

1. Rules rest with the Councils: Only AMU’s Executive and Academic Councils can amend the election rules, and the Vice-Chancellor has told students she lacks the power.
2. Unreviewed age limit: The upper age limit of 22 has not been reviewed since the four year degree began, so some good candidates have been lost.
3. Unexplained delay: AMU has given no official reason for the eight year gap between elections.

Way Forward

1. Dual voting rights: The Executive and Academic Councils should amend the election regulations to give Women’s College students an AMUSU vote alongside their WCSU vote.
2. Age limit review: Revisit the upper age limit for candidates in the election regulations.
3. Off campus voice: Give fee paying students at the off campus centres elected representatives in AMUSU.

Conclusion

AMU’s union polls go ahead with its Women’s College still outside the electorate, so the university’s student leadership is chosen largely without its women. The marker to watch is whether the university’s governing councils take up the dual voting demand before the next AMUSU election.

Back2Basics: Lyngdoh Committee

1. Origin: The committee was constituted in 2005 on the Supreme Court’s direction to frame norms for student union elections. It was headed by former Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh.
2. Concern: It recognised the dangers of money, muscle power and excessive outside political influence in campus elections.
3. Key safeguards: It recommended an upper age limit for undergraduate candidates and a spending cap of Rs 5,000 per candidate.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2024, GS1, 10 marks] Distinguish between gender equality, gender equity and women’s empowerment. Why is it important to take gender concerns into account in programme design and implementation?”