JNUSU Constitution

CONSTITUTION OF JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ UNION

CONSTITUTION OF JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ UNION PREAMBLE We, the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University hereby organise ourselves into a students’ union named as “Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union”, henceforth known as the Union, adopt and give to ourselves the following constitution. The Union shall have the following aims and objectives: 1. The Union shall strive to live up to the important role students have to play in the development and progress of our people. 2. The Union shall endeavour to make our academic courses relevant to the needs of our society and meet the expectations our people have from us. 3. The Union shall endeavour to democratise the structure of decision-making in the University in order to be able to effectively strive for relevance in our education. 4. The Union shall promote and safeguard the genuine interests of the student community, and link it up with the democratic movement in the country, including struggles for gender equality. 5. In order to achieve the above mentioned aims and objectives, the Union will function at two levels, viz., the University level and the School level.

PART- I DEFINITIONS Article 1. (i) Member :- All students of this University shall be the members of the Students’ Union. However, no member of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Karamchari Sangathan or the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association can be a member of the Students’ Union. (ii) Students :a) Full-time :- Any person who is on the rolls of the University for a full-time course will be deemed full-time student. b) Part-time :- Any person who is on the rolls of the University for a part-time course, will be deemed a part-time student. (iii) The Students’ Council :- The students’ council consists of the office bearers; President, Vice-President, General Secretary and Joint Secretary and students Councillors of schools and the part-time students of the University elected as per the procedure defined in Part IV of the constitution. (iv) The School :- A school will be deemed a school when it comes to have a strength of 20 full-time students. However, in the event of their existence, all such schools with a strength of less than 60, for the purpose of representation, shall be amalgamated together or with the school having the least number of students. The representation will be governed by the election procedures outlined in Article 13 clause (ii). (v) The Part-time Constituency :- All part-time students shall constitute a part-time constituency. However, no full-time student enrolled for a part-time course will be a member of this constituency. The representation will be governed by the election procedures outlined in Article 13 clause (iii). (vi) School level activities :- Any activity that does not involve any obligation of the other school, and does not involve the university authorities beyond school level.

(vii) University level activities :- All activities of the student body excluding those governed by Article 1 clause (vi). (viii) Extraordinary Matters : The following matter shall be deemed as “Extraordinary Matters”, decisions on which have to be taken according to the procedure as outlined in Article 4 (ii) and 11 (ii)-(a) Any decision involving direct action by all students of this University. (b) Amendments to the constitution.

PART-II THE STUDENTS COUNCIL Article 2. Function of the Students Council: (i) The Students Council shall work as a deliberative body where all matters concerning the students will be discussed and decisions taken thereon. (ii) It shall decide matters concerning the general policy of the Union: it will control finances and grant money to the President/ General Secretary. (iii) The Student Councillors of respective schools and of the part-time constituency will work as a collective executive for looking after the Union functions at the school level or parttime constituency level as the case may be. (iv) Sub-committee of the Students Council :- Sub-committees will be elected by the Students Council from amongst their members to carry out such functions, as defined by the Council. Article 3. (i) Sessions of the Students Council :- The students Council will be in session at least once a month. However, the General Secretary in consultation with the President can call a special session when they feel it necessary with 12 hours notice. Also a similar meeting will have to be called on demand by one third of the total number of student councillors. The demand should be presented either to the President or to the General Secretary, who will call such a meeting within 48 hours of receipt of such a demand. (ii) Half of the total number of the members of the council will constitute the Quorum for the meetings, with a minimum of 2 student councillors from the schools which may have 4 or 5 councillors and minimum 1 from the schools which may have 2 or 3 councillors. In schools from where only 1 councillor is sent, his/ her presence is not essential for quorum except when discussing matters concerning that school. (iii) The President shall chair the meetings of the Council. In the absence of the President, the Vice-President shall chair the meeting. In the absence of both President and VicePresident, the council will elect a chairman from among themselves. The chairman shall have only a casting vote. Article 4. Decisions in the Council :(i) In ordinary matters the decision will be taken by a simple majority present and voting. (ii) In extraordinary matters defined in the constitution, the decision will be taken by a twothirds majority of total members of the council. Article 5. President (i) There will be a President directly elected by students of the University in the manner outlined in Part IV of the constitution. (ii) The term of office of President shall be 1 year subject to provisions of extension of tenure as specified in Part IV. (iii) The President shall be the chief executive of the Union. He/ she shall chair the meetings of the students council and participate in its deliberations and have only a casting vote.

The President shall execute the mandate given by the students council and look after the day to day work of the union. Article 6. General Secretary (i) There will be a General Secretary elected by students of the University in the manner outlined in Part IV. (ii) The term of the General Secretary shall be 1 year. This term can be extended in accordance with the provision contained in Part IV. (iii) The General Secretary shall aid and advice the President in his/ her day to day work. He/ she in consultation with the President, will be responsible for calling the regular meeting of the students council and keeping the record of minutes of the meeting. (iv) The General Secretary is debarred from chairing the meeting of the student council by virtue of his/ her office. Article 7. Vice-President (i) There will be a Vice-President directly elected by students of the University in the manner outlined in Part IV of the constitution. (ii) The term of the Vice-President will be 1 year. This term can be extended in accordance with the provisions outlined in Part IV. (iii) The Vice-President will aid and advice the President in his/ her day to day work. He/ she will officiate as the President in the absence of the President. Article 8. Joint Secretary (i) There will be a Joint Secretary directly elected by the students of the University in the manner outlined in Part IV of the constitution. (ii) The term of the Joint Secretary shall be for the period of 1 year. The term can be extended in accordance with provisions outlined in Part IV. (iii) The Joint Secretary will aid and advice the General Secretary in his/ her day to day activities. He/ she will officiate as General Secretary in the absence of the General Secretary. (iv) The Joint Secretary is debarred from chairing the meetings of the students council by virtue of his/ her office.

PART-III GENERAL BODIES AND FINANCE Article 9. School General Body (i) Each school shall have a general body consisting of all full-time students of the school. This is the sovereign body of all students of the School and the ultimate decision-making body as regards affairs of each school. The body will give decisions to the student councillors of the school. (ii) The School General Body shall be convened at least twice a semester, to give decision to the councillors. Three days’ notice is necessary for calling an ordinary General Body Meeting. (iii) The Quorum for its meetings shall be 1/6 of the total membership of the school. (iv) The students’ councillors of each school will elect a convenor from among themselves for the whole term to convene and call meetings. In case of a tie, General Body will be consulted. (v) In exceptional circumstances the meetings of the General Body can be convened with a 24 hours notice by the President and General Secretary. It can also be requisitioned by 1/10 of the General Body. This should be addressed to the convenor of the school. Such a meeting should be convened within 48 hours (excluding holidays) of the receipt of such a demand with a 24 hours notice.

Article 10. University General Body (i) The University General Body shall consist of all the full-time students of the University. This is the sovereign body of all students of the University, and ultimate decision-making body as regards affairs of the University Students Union and its decision is binding on the Student Council. (ii) A University General Body can be called by the President and General Secretary on behalf of the students council with 48 hours notice. A University General Body can also be requisitioned by 1/10 of the students of the University. Such a demand should be sent to the President and General Secretary who will convene the meeting with a 24 hours notice within 48 hours (excluding holidays) of receiving such a demand. (iii) The Quorum for such meetings shall be 1/8 of the full-time students and for decisions on extraordinary matters, the Quorum shall be 1/6 of the full-time students. (iv) Procedures for the conduct of General Bodies shall be governed by Appendix 2 of the constitution. Article 11. Decisions of General Bodies (i) All ordinary decisions are to be taken by a simple majority present and voting. (ii) Decisions regarding extraordinary matters have to be taken EITHER by 2/3 majority of the students Council and decided by 2/3 of the schools in their GBMs by a simple majority present and voting in each. This 2/3 of the schools shall include at least 2/3 of schools having 5 councillors each. In case of deadlock among the schools the matter shall be decided by the UGBM whose decision will be binding. OR (a) In the case of programme of simple direct action, by a simple majority of an extraordinary UGBM; in cases involving prolonged direct action, deemed as such by 2/3 present and voting in the Students Council, by 2/3 of an extraordinary UGBM. (b) In the case of soconstitutional amendments, by 2/3 of an extraordinary UGBM. (to be read with Arts. 1 (viii) and 10 (i) ). Article 12. Finance (i) Accounts of the Union will be maintained in the name of the President and General Secretary jointly and they will jointly operate the accounts. (ii) The President will present annual budget within four weeks to the students council for approval. The procedures for budgeting the finance shall be decided by the students council by two thirds majority of the students council present and voting and presented to the General Body. (iii) A supplementary budget may be presented by the President when the need is felt, but subject to approval of two-third majority of the Students Council present and voting. (iv) A sub-committee will be elected with one member from each School General Body to carry out the auditing of expenditure of the Union finances at the end of its term. The subcommittee after auditing the Income and Expenditure of the Union will present its report to the General Bodies before the end of the term of the Council.

PART IV PROCEDURES AND TENURE Article 13. Elections (i) The election for new office-bearers of the Union should be held not later than three months from the date of opening of the University after the summer vacation. (ii) A school will be entitled to have a strength of 5 council members of the Students Council when it comes to have a strength of more than 300 full-time students. However, all schools with a strength of less than 300 and more than 20 will a strength of council members are follows: School having strength of students :-

20 – 60 = 1 Councillor 61 – 100 = 2 Councillors 101 – 200 = 3 Councillors (201 – 300 = 4 Councillors) (iii) All the part-time students of the University will constitute a separate constituency to elect a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 2 student councillors from among themselves. Representation would be governed by the ratio 1 : 500 or part thereof subject to a maximum of 2. (iv) Each full-time student as defined in this constitution shall have a vote each for the election of office-bearers (President, Vice-President, General Secretary and Joint Secretary) from amongst the full-time students and one vote to one candidate to elect a maximum of five councillors. (v) The voting will be by secret ballot, one person having one vote for each post of office bearers. (vi) Each full-time student shall vote to elect student councillors only in that school in which he/she is enrolled. All part-time students of University vote to elect their student councillor/ councillors under the provisions of Article 13 clause (iii). (vii) The candidate obtaining the highest number of votes polled will be declared elected, subject to clause (ii) above in the case of election of councillors. In case of a tie, there shall be a re-election. (viii) All full-time students of the University shall be eligible to contest for the post of either the President, or Vice-President, or General Secretary or Joint Secretary or student councillor from their respective constituency. (ix) All part-time students are eligible to contest for the post of student councillor from the part-time constituency. (x) No member of the student council can contest elections unless he/she resigns from his/her post. Article 14. Tenure (i) The tenure of office-bearers of the student council and student councillors will be one year. (ii) In the event of the impossibility of holding of elections within the above specified period because of reasons beyond the control of the Students Union/ Election Committee, the existing students council and the office bearers will continue in their positions, until the elections can be held in accordance with the procedure specified. However, the time limit for the continuation of the existing will be fixed by University General Body. (iii) (a) In the event of the office of President falling vacant before the expiry of the tenure, the Vice-President will officiate as the President for an interim period of one month, within which a regular by-election will be conducted to fill up the vacancy unless general elections are scheduled within three months. Notwithstanding this, the interim President can continue to hold office if the regular elections to the Students Union are not possible for reasons beyond the control of the Students Union. This clause is subject to the provision of Article 14 clause (ii). (b) In the event of the office of the General Secretary falling vacant before the expiry of the term, the Joint Secretary will officiate as the General Secretary for an interim period of one month, within which a regular by-election will be conducted to fill up the vacancy unless general elections are scheduled within three months. Notwithstanding this, the interim General Secretary can continue to hold office if the regular elections to the Students Union are not possible for reasons beyond the control of the Students Union. This clause is subject to the provisions of Article 14 clause (ii). (c) In the event of the office of the Vice-President/ Joint Secretary falling vacant before the expiry of the term, it will be occupied by a person elected from amongst the student councillors for an interim period of one month within which regular by-election must be held unless general elections are scheduled within three months. Notwithstanding this, the interim Vice-President/ Joint Secretary can continue to hold office if the regular elections

cannot be held because of reasons beyond the control of the Students Union. This clause is subject to the provisions of Article 14 clause (ii). (d) In the event of a councillor post falling vacant before the expiry of the term, a byelection to fill up that vacancy shall be held within one month unless general elections are scheduled within three months. Article 15. Impeachment/ No-confidence (i) A motion of impeachment may be brought against any of the office bearers of the Union by at least one-half of the total membership of the council and shall be decided upon by 2/3 majority of the council and 2/3 majority of an extraordinary UGBM. (ii) A motion of no-confidence against any of the student councillors can be moved by at least one-tenth of the members of General Body. It will have to be passed by a two-third majority present and voting at a duly convened School General Body Meeting. Once a student councillor is removed, a copy of the decision must be sent to the President in council. (iii) A motion of no-confidence against the office bearers/ Students Council as a whole can be moved by at least 1/ 10 of the members of the University General Body. It will have to be passed by a 2/3 majority present and voting at a duly convened General Body Meeting. (iv) Impeachment/ No-confidence notice must be given seven days in advance. Article 16. Resignations (i) Any letter of resignation of a directly-elected office bearer(s) must be addressed not to the Students Council but to the GBM. It may however be handed over to the President or Chairman of any meeting of the Council of session. (ii) A resignation letter from a student councillor should be addressed to the General Body of the school concerned and can be handed over in person to any other student councillor from the school concerned. A copy of this must be submitted to the President of the Council. In the interim period till the filling of the vacancy, the student councillor may be asked to continue. (iii) In the event of the whole Student Council, the office bearers and student councillors will continue to perform care-taker role until the mid-term or general elections to all the posts are conducted. Article 17. Motion of confidence A motion of confidence may be presented by an office-bearer/ student councillor to the University General Body/ School General Bodies, as the case may be, at any time during his/ her tenure. Decision on such a motion shall be taken by a majority, present and voting. Article 18. Election Committee (i) There shall be Election Committee consisting of as many full-time students from each school as needed but not exceeding as many persons as there are councillors from each school to conduct elections of the office-bearers and the councillors. (ii) Rules and procedures of Student Union Elections are laid down in Appendix 1. (iii) Every member of this Committee must have the approval of 2/3 of the students council and this panel must be presented by the student council to the General Bodies of each school for approval of the respective members from each school. (iv) No member of the Students Council is eligible for the membership of this committee. Article 19. Interim Elections (i) In case of interim elections for office bearers an Election Committee should be constituted as specified in Article 18. (ii) In case of interim elections for councillors the remaining student councillors of the school along with a nominee of Students Council will supervise elections.

APPENDIX 1 RULES AND PROCEDURE FOR CONDUCTING STUDENTS UNION ELECTION Part 1 (i) The elections for the new office bearers of the Union should be held not later than three months from the date of opening of the University after the summer vacations. (ii) Provided in the case of a mid-term poll for office bearer, it shall be held within one month of the post falling vacant. Part 2 (i) After the General Bodies elect the members of the Election Committee, the President of the Students Union will convene a meeting of the Election Committee. (ii) At this meeting, the Election Committee members will elect a chairman from amongst themselves, if necessary by an absolute majority. (iii) The Chairman shall convene the meetings of the Election Committee and co-ordinate its work. (iv) The Election Committee should hold the elections within 4 weeks of its first formal meeting as a Committee. For purposes of counting the 4 week period, extraordinary holidays shall not be taken into consideration. (v) The Quorum for the Election Committee meetings will be half of its total members and all decisions will be by simple majority. (vi) In all schools, the supervisory team must include members from other schools. (vii) In the event of any vacancy or in the eventuality of any need for extra assistance, the Chairman may co-opt any full-time student who shall not have any vote in the Committee. (viii) The Election Committee shall have total powers as far as the conduct of the elections are concerned. This shall include the disqualifying of candidates from contesting and of the voters from voting, provided that they take such a decision by a 2/3 majority present and voting and give reasons for the same. (ix) All decisions of the Election Committee are final and binding on the students. Part 3 The Election Committee will work within the purview of following the rules and procedure: (i) All voting will be by secret ballot. (ii) Ballot papers: Names of the candidates will be in English in alphabetical order, the first name of the candidate (not surname) appearing first. (iii) Voters will mark the ballot paper against the name of the candidates with the rubber stamp provided by the Election Committee. (iv) Nomination: (a) Nominations shall be accepted in the prescribed proforma. They have to be duly proposed and seconded by students belonging to the concerned electorate. (b) Nominations shall be invalidated when the name of the proposer, seconder or the candidate does not figure in the appropriate electoral list or when the proposer or the seconder proposes or seconds more than the number of candidates that he is entitled to vote for. (c) A student is eligible to stand only for one post. In the event of a candidate filing in nominations for more than one post after the date of withdrawal his nominations to all posts shall be invalidated. (v) Counting: (a) Counting shall begin on the same date as the polling has ended. (b) All ballot papers while being counted, must be displayed to the candidates or a person authorised by the candidate. (c) A Ballot shall be invalidated when it has been marked by a mark other than the stamp provided by the Committee, when the number of votes cast is more than the number of posts for which the elections are held and when the choice expressed in vague.

(d) Objection to any vote must be made on the spot at the time of counting by the authorised counting agent of the candidate concerned. (e) Recount: Demand for recount by the authorised counting agent of the candidate concerned should be made immediately after the first counting in writing. If the demand is accepted by the Election Committee, the recount will be conducted immediately and a maximum of two recounts will be held. (f) The Election Committee shall stand dissolved on the expiry of 48 hours from the declaration of results. (g) Members of the Election Committee are barred from contesting any post in the Union and are forbidden from canvassing in any form for any candidate. Part 4 (i) No candidate or voter shall indulge in any official canvassing or pamphleteering during the 24 hours prior to the commencement of polling. (ii) Candidates and voters are expected to abide by the norms of decent canvassing. Personal slanders and defacing, tearing and pulling down of posters may result in disciplinary action by the Committee which can include the disqualification of the candidate and the disenfranchisement of the voters, provided that they take such a decision by 2/3 majority present and voting and give reasons for the same.

APPENDIX NO. 2 PROCEDURE FOR THE CONDUCT OF GENERAL BODY MEETING 1. The President will chair the University General Body Meeting. In the Absence of the President, the Vice-President and in the absence of both, a Chairman elected by the Councillors from among themselves shall chair the meeting. At the School General Body Meeting the convenor shall chair the meeting. 2. (i) The General Secretary shall take the quorum and write the minutes and in his absence, the Joint Secretary will perform this task. (ii) The Councillors shall assist the General Secretary in taking the quorum. (iii) In the absence of the General Secretary and the Joint Secretary, the Councillors shall elect from among themselves one Councillor to discharge these duties. At the School level one among the Councillors shall perform these duties. 3. The Chairman shall open the meeting and announce the items of the agenda, which must be made public at the time of notification of the GBM. 4. (i) All requests for addition of items to the agenda shall be given to the Chair in writing and supported by 1/10 of the members of the general body present at the opening of the meeting. (ii) Such additions to the agenda shall be put to discussion after all the items initially on the agenda have been resolved through common consensus or voting. Any change in the priority of the agenda can be moved by half the quorum of the meeting and passed by a simple majority immediately after the opening of the meeting. All such motions may be moved only once and discussed and voted upon simultaneously. (iv) In case all items on the agenda have not been resolved, the adjourned meeting shall be reconvened within 48 hours of the adjournment of the meeting excluding holidays. 5. (i) All points of order shall be raised with Chair in writing. The Chair shall read out all points of order and give his ruling assigning reasons for the same. The ruling of the chair shall be final and binding. Once a point of order is ruled upon, it cannot be raised again. (ii) It shall be left to the discretion of the Chair whether to immediately stop the discussion and read out the point of order and give his ruling or whether to do so after the speaker who is speaking at the moment has finished. 6. Once the meeting has been called to order by the Chair, he shall decide and announce a fixed time limit within which all persons who wish to speak may submit their names in

writing. At the expiry of the specified time limit, the final list of speakers will be announced and strictly adhered to. 7. On the basis of the number of speakers, the Chair will specify time limit for speeches which shall be binding. The General Secretary shall keep the time. 8. No person other than councillors may come up to the dais unless called by the Chair. 9. Voting shall be either by voice vote, show of hands, count of heads or secret ballot. The Council shall decide before hand on the particular mode to adopt. As regards voting, the Chairman after taking the vote with the help of the General Secretary and the Councillors will declare the result of the voting. 10. All objections and interjections may only be raised in writing with the Chair and the Chair shall use its discretionary powers whether to read out and further whether to disallow it or to put it to discussion assigning reasons for the same. 11. All points of order, names of speakers etc, shall be collected by the councillors and handed over to the Chair. 12. The Students Council shall, using its discretionary powers, decide upon the duration of the meeting and leave it to the Chair to announce the time of voting. 13. Under normal circumstances, the meeting may be adjourned by the Chair only for a short duration. The Chair can exercise its right to adjourn the meeting sine die under exceptional circumstances. Fresh quorum shall be taken for all adjourned meeting.

APPENDIX NO. 3 RULES AND PROCEDURE FOR THE SELECTION TO GENDER SENSITISATION COMMITTEE AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSMENT (GSCASH) 1. The JNUSU representative to the GSCASH shall be elected from within the council for one term. 2. Elections for the two student representatives to the GSCASH shall be conducted by the Election Committee as specified in Article 18. 3. At least one of the two student representatives shall be a woman. 4. The member specially elected to the GSCASH will have no voting rights in the Council. Their participation in the Students Council will be restricted to discussions regarding gender issues. 5. The tenure of the student representatives will be one year. 6. In the event of the impossibility of holding elections within the specified period for reasons beyond the control of the Election Committee, the existing representatives will continue in their positions until elections can be held in accordance with the procedure specified. However, the time limit for the continuance of the existing members will be fixed by University General Body. 7. In the event of either one or both the posts falling vacant before the expiry of the tenure, the Students Council shall elect representatives for an interim period till elections are held for these posts. 8. A motion of impeachment of no-confidence against any of the student representatives can be brought in accordance with Article 15. 9. Any resignations by the representatives will be according to the procedure in Article 16.