New Delhi: A decade after the implementation of the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations on student union polls - which introduced age and expenditure curbs as well as attendance and disciplinary requirements, the Congress' National Students Union of India (NSUI) has proposed to set up an Independent Election Commission (IEC) under the EC to conduct these polls. The NSUI is planning to host two national conventions - one for student organisations and another for elected students union representatives - next March. The NSUI has also called for the voting age to be reduced to 16 and for the minimum age of a contestant to be reduced to 18 years of age. The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 by the 61st amendment in 1989, under the Rajiv Gandhi government. The current minimum age for contesting the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls is 25, and 30 for the Rajya Sabha.

Source: The Telegraph December 04, 2017 20:48 UTC