Jalpaiguri, Dec. 21: Elections to the students' unions in at least eight colleges in Jalpaiguri district will be held on January 20 next year.

The decision was taken at a meeting convened by the district administration here today. A senior administrative official said the colleges would publish voters' list tomorrow and from the same day, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC would be in force on the premises of all the institutions.

"Policemen in plainclothes would be posted in the colleges to prevent the intrusion of outsiders. In our district, two new colleges were opened in the past two years. The authorities of both the colleges have been told that if they want, they can organise the first elections to form the students' union. Unlike earlier years, this is the first time that students' union elections in the colleges of the district would be held on a single day," he said.

The new institutions, Dhupguri Girls' College and Karick Oraon Smriti College in Banahat, are yet to decide if they should hold the polls on January 20.