Fear over promotion of party ideology on campus after UGC nudge on voter registration
Basant Kumar Mohanty | 30 December 2023 | The Telegraph
The University Grants Commission has asked universities and colleges to facilitate the registration of young students as voters.
The directive has drawn mixed reactions from academics, some condemning it as another non-academic imposition on universities’ time after the Modi selfie point and Yoga Day diktats, and others welcoming it as a way of boosting democratic values and a sense of citizenship.
Commission secretary Manish Joshi wrote to all vice-chancellors and college principals on December 19 to create awareness about voting rights among students in the 17-plus age group. Indians become eligible to be voters at 18.