Nongpoh, Oct 3: “Every university should have an active students’ group so that they can express their views freely within and across the institutions and help bring reformation in the electoral process”. This was stated by Navin B. Chawla, former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India as he was addressing the students and faculty members of the University of Science & Technology Meghalaya (USTM) here on Sunday in a lecture series organized by USTM on “Elections in India as well as in Neighbourhood”.Apart from the students and teachers community of the university, the lecture series was attended by USTM Chancellor Mahbubul Hoque, Vice Chancellor Prof GD Sharma, Prof Mohammed Basheer from Assam University and Anurag Rudra, ADC, Kamrup Metro.

Chawla also unveiled a statue of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru at the Nehru Park of USTM.

Giving a ringside view of the history, the inner workings, and the future of elections in India, Chawla said there should be students’ group in the universities so that the student community can participate and express freely their political views which can contribute to the reformation of the electoral process in the country.

During the interactive session, he responded to many questions from the students of USTM. In one such response, he stated that the Government should develop a strong system to train and educate the voters of the country so that they are aware about the candidates and their background.

The former Chief Election Commissioner, who served as the 16th CEC of India and authored a biography of Mother Teresa, said every vote counted in a democracy, which had also formed the theme for his recent book “Every Vote Counts”. He also delivered another lecture on Saint Teresa (Mother Teresa) while addressing the faculty members of the university.

Earlier, welcoming everyone present on the occasion, USTM Chancellor Mahbubul Hoque emphasized on the importance of the students as well as teachers community to take serious note of the democratic process of the country.