PU keeps a check on unfair means to woo voters

With student political groups resorting to all possible means to win voters for the Panjab University (PU) student council elections, the university administration is keeping a watch on mass bunking and has barred entry of buses on the campus.

As a preventive measure, it has also cancelled all types of trips undertaken by various departments and student groups, in the wake of elections.

Officials said, off late a trend of students being taken out by political groups on fun trips, movies and dinner parties, to lure them to vote was being reported.

A senior official said, "Lakhs of rupees are spent on such activities by the parties and these activities are getting prominent every year." The administration is looking for various ways to stop this practice, but hasn't succeeded so far.

PU dean student welfare (DSW) Navdeep Goyal said, "We are looking at various methods to keep a check on this. The hostel wardens are keeping a close watch on such activities. They are often tipped off by rival groups, if such a trip is there. Buses entry on the campus has also been banned. Parking of buses around the campus is also not being allowed."

An incident came to light here on Wednesday night, where a student political party had hired a bus for a fun trip for students. The bus entered the premises, but as the administration came to know about it, the students were warned and let off, while the bus was sent back to its owner.

Goyal added, "Various departments at PU organise fun trips and sometimes during the course of academic year, student groups also organise such trips and parties. We have cancelled all types of trips and parties till the elections end."

PU in a fix over fixing mass bunking
PU officials said the trips to far off places are rare but trips within the city for watching movies, parties, for which students' mass-bunk, is something for which a fool-proof mechanism is yet to be put in place. DSW Goyal said, "Teachers have been asked to continue with the scheduled academic activity, so that if there is any incident of mass bunking, it is exposed."

He added that, as of now, to deal with this the only solution that the university had so far is to mark such students absent.