New Delhi, Oct 5 (PTI) JNUSU elections are likely to be held by January after the conclusion of the admission process for PhD courses, a senior official said on Thursday.

The entrance exam for admission to PhD courses in the Jawaharlal Nehru University are scheduled for this month.

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The process for Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) elections will be initiated after the new students in the 2023 PhD batch are enrolled to give them an opportunity to participate in the polls, the official said.

"We may hold the JNUSU elections by January. The process for the elections will be initiated after the conclusion of PhD admissions for the new academic session and the scholars arrive on campus," the official told PTI.

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"Jawaharlal Nehru University is a research university and we don't our scholars' representation to be missed during the elections," the official said.

The administration recently held a meeting with students' union representatives and a consensus was largely reached on issues related to the delay in the elections.

The official said sessional exams are currently underway for Masters and Bachelors programmes. The students will get busy with the elections if the polls are held now and it will impact their attendance in classrooms.

"The Lyngdoh Committee Recommendations, in conjunction with the Supreme Court order of 2011, mandates that a candidate must attain a minimum percentage of attendance to be eligible for the polls. If we hold the elections right now, students will fall short of the attendance criterion and it will also be unfair for Masters and Bachelors students who are undertaking exams currently," he added.

The JNUSU had recently written to the Vice-Chancellor's Office demanding the immediate commencement of the elections. On September 18, the students' union held a general body meeting to discuss the delay in the elections.

JNUSU elections have not been held since 2019. PTI

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)