The Tribhuvan University has directed its constituent and affiliated colleges to prepare for the Free Student Union election for March 19 following the decision of the varsity’s executive committee to hold the polls that haven’t been held for nearly six years now.

The administration of the university, which has a share of some 85 percent university students in the country, decided to go for the polls after consulting the deans from different faculties, the examination controller and the various student unions. “All the (TU) constituent and affiliated colleges are asked for the necessary preparation for the Free Student Union elections on March 19,” reads the statement issued by the university’s publicity department on Friday. The polls will elect the representatives of students for the next two years.

The biennial elections haven’t been held since 2017. In the elections five years back, voting could take place only in 35 constituent campuses and some 100 community colleges following differences among student unions and incidents of violence in the university.

It was only in 2009 that the elections were held across the country. Though the university wants all of its constituent colleges and affiliated colleges to hold the election, affiliated colleges with private ownership don’t hold such polls. Most of the community colleges, however, have been conducting the elections.

Pashupati Adhikari, chief at the Directorate of Student Welfare and Sports, said they have informed all the colleges to make sure the representatives of the students are elected through the democratic process on March 19. In addition to 61 constituent colleges, the university administration wants to conduct the elections in its 1,040 affiliated colleges—both the community and private.

“It is mandatory for all the constituent colleges to hold the elections. But for the private colleges it is not. However, we expect each of them to have elected student councils,” Adhikari told the Post.

Private college operators have been saying they will discuss the issue among themselves and make their position on the matter public once the university takes a decision to this effect. University officials say there is a practice in several countries to have student councils in colleges and universities. Therefore, there is nothing wrong in holding the elections in private colleges as well, they say.

Starting in 2017, the varsity has adopted a mixed electoral system that would allow equal division of seats between those elected through the proportional and first-past-the-post systems. Only those students below 28 years can take part in voting.

All the student unions, including Nepal Student Union (NSU) close to Nepali Congress, have welcomed the university’s decision to hold the elections. Earlier, the NSU had been saying the polls can be held only after all the pending results are published while the university seeks written commitment from all the student wings. “We now want the university administration to stick to its decision and make sure the elections are held across the country,” said Dujang Sherpa, president of the NSU.