Now a conspiracy is being hatched to drive PanjabUniversity out of Punjab in the name of 'governance reforms' and if stategovernment remains a mute spectator to the issue, the university may cut downin size, losing a big pie like losing Chandigarh from Punjab.
A panel constituted by the Vice-President of India and PUchancellor M Venkaiah Naidu and in its report, it suggested downsizing ofsenate and syndicate and that colleges situated in close proximity of PU inMohali and Ropar may be affiliated to it, while colleges far away can beaffiliated to other universities. As a part of the conspiracy, Vice-Chancellorof the Punjab University, Rajkumar was not allowing Senate and Syndicateelections for long. When the High Court ordered the election on the writ of themembers, it was stopped in the name of Corona. Attempts are now being made toget the report passed just six days before the next hearing.
Reforms are nothing but a conspiracy to cut off the handsof the syndicate (which is elected and sent by Punjab teachers and universityalumni) to the Senate and give all powers to the Vice-Chancellor. Once thereforms in place, the VC will have the right to nominate the members of hischoice. And who he will nominate as a member can be gauged from the fact thatthere has been an open 'anti-Punjabi' atmosphere in the university in the lastthree years. Although the Captain's Government has demanded some changes inthese reforms, it is feared that this issue is likely to face the same fate asfarmers' bills.
Raising voice of protest, members of the Youth Akali Daland Students Organization of India (SOI) held a protest outside PanjabUniversity (PU) vice-chancellor Raj Kumar’s office on Monday over the reformsin the governance structure of PU proposed by a high-level panel of experts.The protesters raised slogans against the VC and said that the democraticcharacter of the senate and syndicate and PU’s territorial jurisdiction shouldnot be tinkered with.
They demanded that no college affiliated with the varsityin Punjab should be disaffiliated and also said that elections of the senateand syndicate should be held immediately. YAD president Parambans Singh Romanasaid, “We cannot afford to be silent. The high-level committee, which does notinclude a single member of the senate or syndicate, had recommended limitingthe territorial jurisdiction of the university due to which colleges inMuktsar, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Hoshiarpur and Moga districts, can bedisaffiliated.” SOI leader and former president of Panjab University CampusStudents’ Council (PUCSC) Chetan Chaudhary, said, “PU is a part of our heritageand culture and its structure should not be changed.”
Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and the leader ofopposition in Punjab legislative assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema, on Monday saidthat the party firmly opposed the move to destroy the democratic structure ofPanjab University (PU).
Addressing the media at the party headquarters on Monday,Cheema said that PU was one of the oldest universities in the country, and thatevery possible struggle would be fought by them to save the heritage of Punjab.