LUCKNOW, Aug. 21 -- After nearly a decade, Lucknow University's Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes Teachers' Association marked its full reactivation on Thursday by conducting its first contested election in years. Seventy out of 71 registered voters cast their ballots at the university's staff club under the supervision of returning officer Prof Kaviraj. In Thursday's contest, Prof Chandki Ram Gautam (Physics dept) was elected president with 39 votes, defeating outgoing president Prof Reeta Chaudhary (Hindi dept), who received 31 votes. Prof Ravi Kant (Hindi dept) secured the position of general secretary with 41 votes, defeating Prof Munesh Kumar (education dept), who received 29 votes.Prof Ashok Kumar Kaithal (economics department) was elected unopposed as vice president, while Prof Pradeep Kumar (botany department) and Saurabh Kumar Singh (chemistry department) were elected unopposed as treasurer and secretary, respectively. Currently, 71 SC/ST faculty members serve across the university's 112 reserved posts (out of 404 total faculty positions), with remaining posts vacant due to delayed recruitment or retirements. The association was formed around 2007 by 12 educators, including Prof Kalicharan Snehi, Prof Ratan Kumar, Prof Nandlal Bharti, Prof Reeta Chaudhary, Prof Shyam Kishore, Prof Sudarshan Verma and Prof Dinesh Kumar. Following Prof Snehi's retirement around 2010-2012, the association entered a phase of dormancy. A prolonged re-registration process paved the way for its official reactivation in 2022. Between 2022 and 2026, Prof Reeta Chaudhary served as president and Prof Dinesh Kumar as secretary. They were chosen unopposed. Prof CR Gautam said, "I will bring forward issues related to SC/ST faculty members." Newly elected general secretary Prof Ravi Kant said, "We aim to ensure that university administration strictly adheres to statutory reservation rules." Political science faculty member Prof Sanjay Gupta said, "Operating identity-driven platforms inside academic institutions runs contrary to constitutional ideals."...