After Banaras Hindu University, now women students of Government Degree College Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir are up in arms against gender discrimination and unreasonable restrictions imposed on them. In a state that has a woman chief minister, the college administration doesn’t allow women students to contest for the post of president in the students’ body elections.

Ironically, the college—that boasts of co-education—has separate class representatives for male and female students. The college has a total number of 1800 students including 1000 male and 800 female students. During the polls for the post of vice president and general secretary, women class representatives can only vote for women candidates.

On Thursday, when the polls were held and executive body of the students’ union constituted, several agitated students, led by male and female class representatives, held a demonstration on the college premises. They chanted slogans against the college administration and principal for allegedly berating the women students. However, they dispersed soon after the college administration threatened them with police action.

On the condition of anonymity, a woman class representative complained: “One fails to understand why a woman can’t become president of the students’ union in this college. The rules for student union polls are regressive and don’t promote democratic values. This college is the premier educational institution in the entire district. Such discriminatory rules don’t augur well for the institutions of higher learning and need to be changed. The sooner, the better.”