DUSU contestants to submit clean-up reports by Saturday; results after inspections

The Delhi University (DU) management on Thursday asked candidates who contested the DU Student Union (DUSU) elections to file reports on work undertaken to clean up defacement of property by Saturday, officials familiar with the matter said.
The move comes a day after the candidates were divided into five groups, following a meeting between the management and candidates pertaining to the counting of votes, which is likely on November 21.
A senior DU official, not wanting to be named, said that only four to five candidates turned up for Wednesday’s meeting. “If the same kind of lack of enthusiasm transpires in the defacement clean-up reports, the university may not proceed with the counting on November 21. Only when the university is completely satisfied will the final order for counting be given,” the official said.
The developments follow multiple hearings and directions from the Delhi high court, which took note of the defacement of public property by candidates in the run-up to the DUSU polls. The polling took place on September 27, but results have been withheld on court order due to defacement of property.
On Monday, the high court permitted the counting of votes by November 26, provided the DU administration is satisfied with the clean-up drive by the candidates.
“We had called DUSU candidates to discuss the clean up and the subsequent counting of votes, following the submission of status reports. The candidates have been divided into groups or clusters, and a group coordinator has been assigned,” said Rajni Abbi, DU proctor.
The five groups will ensure the clean-up of North Campus, South Campus, Rajdhani College, Zakir Hussain Delhi College and Aditi Mahavidyalaya, and the coordinator will submit clean-up reports with geotagged photographs by 5pm on Saturday, officials said.
Mitravinda Karnwal, an undergraduate history honours student from Lakshmi Bai College, who contested for the post of secretary in the DUSU elections is coordinating a three-person group of which she is a part.
“Our group has been assigned the area near Aditi Mahavidyalaya. We have identified three major locations from the list submitted to the court as the major points where public property was defaced. Our team will conduct a day-long cleaning drive on Friday,” Karnwal said.
Rishab Choudhary, from DU’s Department of Buddhist Studies, who contested for the post of president, said that the North Campus has already been cleaned by his 10-person team.
“All defacement has been removed from the North Campus. Remnants of posters on walls or maybe some leftover writing will also be removed by Friday. We are confident the university will be satisfied with our reports,” Choudhury said.
A third DU official said that the university will also pitch in. “Once reports from all the five teams are in on Saturday, the university will start inspections at all listed locations from Sunday. If any remaining defacement is found, we will have people on-site who will clean that up immediately,” the official said.
Following the initial court order to withhold results until defacement is cleaned up, DU asked students to take responsibility for the same. The university’s vice-chancellor also took up inspections to ensure that all defacement of public properties was removed. DU officials said that they will ensure all defacement is cleared before the results are announced.