Maharashtra forms 12-member panel to review student council elections in universities, colleges

The Higher and Technical Education Department on Thursday announced the formation of a high-level expert committee to review and recommend measures for conducting student council elections across universities and affiliated colleges in Maharashtra.

The government has issued a detailed Government Resolution (GR).

The 12-member committee will be headed by Suhas Pednekar, former Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University, with Prasad Karande, Registrar of Mumbai University, serving as the Member Secretary.

Other members include former Vice-Chancellors, Pro-Vice-Chancellors, Registrars, and Deans from major public universities such as Savitribai Phule Pune University and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University.

The panel has been tasked with submitting a comprehensive report to the state government within one month. It will suggest mechanisms to ensure elections remain academic, healthy, student-centric, and free from external political interference or commercial influence.

It will also recommend proportional representation in student councils for women, Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Vimukta Jatis & Nomadic Tribes (VJNT), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and representatives from NSS, NCC, sports, and cultural units.

The committee will assess the feasibility of using online and digital systems for nominations, scrutiny, voting, and grievance redressal to streamline the process.

It will also formulate clear norms for managing, budgeting, and auditing student council funds, and design training modules to educate newly elected representatives on their duties and rights.

Mumbai University will host expert committee meetings online, offline, or in a hybrid format. The initiative aims to restore transparent, peaceful, and structured democratic participation for students across higher educational institutions in Maharashtra.

Under the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016, and the Uniform Statutes issued on October 26, 2018, the Act provides for establishing student councils and holding elections.

Following a proposal submitted on September 23, 2026, by the Director of Higher Education, Pune, the state decided to constitute this committee to address implementation challenges, consult stakeholders, and formulate a roadmap for student elections, the GR stated.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by Education Post)