The dispute between the Punjab government and Governor Banwarilal Purohit over the selection of Dr. Satbir Singh Gosal as vice-chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Ludhiana appears to be heating up. CM Mann has sent the governor a letter defending the action after the governor asked that the Mann-led government dismiss Gosal from the job due to the illegality of his appointment.
CM Mann stated that Dr. Satbir Singh Gosal was appointed in compliance with the Punjab and Haryana Agricultural University Act 1970. He made it clear that the PAU board alone has the authority to designate someone to this position; the CM or Governor CM or Governor has no role in it.
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday to dismiss Dr. Gosal from his position as Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). This happened a week after Purohit, who also serves as the Chancellor of the state-run universities, declined to consent to the appointment of prominent cardiologist Dr. Gurpreet Singh Wander to the position of vice chancellor at the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot.
The Governor stated in a letter to the CM that it had been brought to his attention that the government had chosen Dr. Gosal as the PAU VC "without following the UGC guidelines and consent of the Chancellor." The state government's action, he said, "is completely illegal and cannot be accepted." He said that because Dr. Gosal had been chosen by the government, the CM had been asked to dismiss him right away.