No Records on the Roll? AUSG Fails to Respond to Filed RTI

On Sunday, 1st February 2026, The Edict conducted a review of the Ashoka University Student Government expense tracker, House of Representatives (HoR) meeting records, and Undergraduate (UG) Council records, from the Monsoon ‘25 semester. Expense trackers for the documents are openly accessible to the student body via the AUSG’s Public Information Drive. Here’s what was discovered: the expense trackers for the ministries of Environment, Campus Life, Sports, Technology, and Culture were blank, and the minutes of four out of the seven UG Council meetings last semester were missing. The HoR file contains nothing beyond the Speaker’s election, raising alarming concerns that the House might not have met. 

Late in November 2025, the AUSG launched a new “RTI Portal” on the SG Platform. An Edict Staff Writer submitted an RTI requesting access to the itemised expenditure for all ministries, updated records for the UG Council and HoR, and memorandums justifying the various changes made to the funding allocations in the Monsoon 2025 budget, chiefly those of the Environment, Sports and Cultural ministries. The Cultural Ministry (Jazbaa), in particular, despite already having the lion’s share of the AUSG budget (over 1 Lakh), received a 7% increase, for which there is no expenditure record as of now. As per the AUSG RTI policy, expedited submissions will receive a response within 3 working days, and responses to anonymous submissions will be uploaded to the AUSG Public Information Drive within 4 working days. The RTI request has not received a response at the time of publication, despite being filed on Sunday, February 1st. This article will be updated if and when the RTI receives a response. 

These are not the first inquiries regarding accountability and transparency within the AUSG. Concerns have been previously raised about the consistent delays in updating records across the Monsoon 2025 semester. In November 2025, the Edict reported on a communication from the Ashoka University Election Commission (AUEC) to the student body, highlighting the absence of a budget and expense tracker in the AUSG Public Information Drive. Again, in October 2025, the Edict covered another mail by the AUEC on the lack of timely and transparent communication about the dismissal of AUSG members. 

The Spring 2026 semester will see the next round of AUSG elections for the 2026-2027 Academic Year. It is vital that the student body has access to data on the AUSG’s functioning to enable adequate assessment of the incumbent’s performance before campaigning begins and they cast their votes. In the meantime, the Edict notes that the Ministries of Academic Affairs and Community & Well Being have updated their records. 

(Edited by Fatema Tambawalla and Anamta Husain)