With higher education institutes having witnessed polls nearly a decade ago, students are now planning to amp up pressure on the govt to hold elections. TOI looks at the challenges being faced by themEight years after Odisha’s colleges and universities last held regular students’ union elections, the state govt is once again weighing a return to campus polls. But with the Durga Puja vacation approaching and no election schedule in sight, despite polls traditionally being held before the festive break, students are once again staring at uncertainty over when they will get elected representatives.The latest assurance comes nearly two years after chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi promised in Dec 2024 that students’ union elections would return from the 2025-26 academic session. That did not happen. Now, with the 2026-27 academic year underway, higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj has said the govt is “positive” about holding the polls and that the department is prepared, but has not indicated when they could be held.Student union elections were last held across campuses in 2017. The 2018 election cycle was disrupted by Cyclone Titli and campus disturbances, after which the govt continued to keep the polls on hold, citing concerns over maintaining a peaceful academic environment. The Covid-19 pandemic further prolonged the suspension. If elections are not held this academic year, higher education institutions will effectively enter their ninth academic year without regular elected students’ unions.For students, however, the issue is not merely about campus politics. They say the absence of an elected union has left them without an organised institutional platform to take up persistent campus problems, particularly faculty vacancies, along with hostel accommodation and quality of food.“Today, not just in Utkal University but students in many other campuses are facing many issues. Be it entry of outsiders, hostel accommodation, quality of food or faculty vacancies. Even if we protest, it is still in an unorganised manner. Had there been an elected union, it could help students take their grievances directly to the administration,” said Utkal University student Sukesh Tripathy.Muskan Ray, a student of Ravenshaw University, said, “Elections give students an opportunity to raise issues collectively while developing leadership and negotiation skills. An elected union could serve as a bridge between students and the administration.”Cuttack MLA Sofia Firdous, who has been raising the issue, also argued that the prolonged absence of elections had weakened students’ participation in decisions concerning campus and academic issues. She said the electoral process gave students an opportunity to develop leadership skills by dealing with real problems on campus.With elections suspended, the higher education department in 2019 provided for nomination of student representatives to university and college bodies wherever student representation was required.Over the years, institutions have evolved different arrangements in place of elected unions, including nominated representatives, class representatives, student councils, cultural associations and other activity-based groups. But students and former union leaders say these mechanisms do not carry the same mandate as an elected body.“A nominated representative is accountable primarily to the institution that selects or approves the person, while an elected union president or secretary has a direct electoral mandate from students. This has been our argument behind our demand for restoration of campus polls,” said former Utkal University students’ union president Tanmay Swain.The absence of formal unions has not meant an end to student politics on campuses. Student wings of political parties continue to organise programmes and protests and raise issues relating to infrastructure, faculty shortages and student welfare. The issue of representation became more contentious this year after the higher education department issued a model code of conduct governing student activities, with student groups arguing that restrictions on protests could further narrow the avenues available to them to raise grievances.The current govt had committed to restoring the polls soon after coming to power. Addressing the 49th state-level conference of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in Cuttack in Dec 2024, Majhi criticised the previous BJD govt for keeping elections suspended for years and announced that his govt would revive them from the next academic year. He also said the elections would not be stopped again. Nearly two academic years later, however, that promise remains unfulfilled.Suraj recently said the govt was keen on conducting the elections and that deliberations were underway. “I have sought recommendations from the department on conducting elections across all the public higher educational institutions in the state. The department is prepared to resume the students’ union elections,” he said. Suraj, however, did not indicate any timeline for conducting the elections.