Cuttack: All eyes are now on the Ravenshaw University’s executive council that will meet on September 28 to take a decision on the students’ election that was indefinitely deferred more than a year ago.

An official source said that the meeting of the executive council has been scheduled following demands for students’ election in the university culminating in the indefinite agitation by students under the banner of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Tuesday.

Vice-chancellor Ishan Patro told The Telegraph on Wednesday that he had received the memorandum of demand from the agitating students but a decision could be taken only after a recommendation from the executive council. “Our demands include, among others, to conduct the executive council meeting immediately and pass the resolution for direct election,” the protesting students said.

The executive council is the apex body in charge of the general management and administration of the university. It has 13 members — including local Lok Sabha MP, local MLA, principal secretary of higher education department, director of higher education department, director of technical education and training department and the university vice-chancellor and registrar.

The executive council is expected to recommend whether direct students’ election should be replaced by indirect elections taking into consideration the legality of the options, especially the alternative model which the university had proposed to adopt. The university had planned to do away with direct election and replace the students’ union with students’ councils for each of the nine schools consisting of its 34 departments in 2017-18.

But the move hit a roadblock with a combined front of students’ organisations successfully stalling the students’ council election, forcing the university to defer it indefinitely on August 22, 2017, and refer the matter to the executive council. However, no recommendation on the matter has followed till date.

Through the alternative model, the university wanted to replace the single apex body — the students’ union — with students’ councils for each of the nine schools consisting of 34 departments. The higher education department has decided to conclude the students’ union polls before Dussehra with October 12 as the likely date for the elections. However, the dates are yet to be announced officially.

All eyes on big cat

A four-member team of the Wildlife Institute of India is currently monitoring the movement and behaviour of tigress “Sundari” in Satkosia Tiger reserve, said additional principal chief conservator of forests Sudarshan Panda on Wednesday. He said the tigress would be tranquilised and relocated to the core area of the reserve if it continued to remain violent and found moving towards human settlement.