IKG-PTU yet to appoint VC

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 14

Even as Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) and Punjabi University today appointed their vice-chancellor, the process of appointing a new VC on the same post at IK Gujral Punjab Technical University (IKG-PTU) has been hanging for a long time.

Though the screening committee had fixed its meeting twice earlier this month, they were later cancelled. The next meeting is scheduled for August 18. “We have already sent a list of eligible candidates to the committee. It is now up to the members to decide when to meet and plan for holding interviews of the candidates,” said Parveen Kumar Thind, Director, Technical Education, Punjab.

The panel has the name of the Chief Secretary, Punjab, as the chairman, besides four other members including Additional Chief Secretary of the Department of Technical Education, Director, IIT Ropar, an expert in Strategic Defence and Defence Technologies, former VC Dr SK Salwan and Panjab University VC Prof Arun Grover. The post of the VC is lying vacant since December 2015.

A varsity where top posts are held temporarily

IKGPTU is perhaps the only varsity in the region where all top posts have been held on an officiating basis. It has an officiating chairman of the BOG, officiating VC, officiating Registrar, officiating Controller of Examinations and even an officiating Dean Academics. The Congress government had recently amended the IKG-PTU Act by declaring that its BoG chairman will be an eminent technocrat or an industrialist, instead of the Chief Secretary as was the provision during the Akali regime. However, no appointment has been made and G Vajralingam, who is the vice chairperson of the BOG and Additional Chief Secretary of the Department of Technical Education, holds the charge as of now. He is also the officiating VC of the university and now a member of the screening committee.

Dr Amanpreet Singh, Deputy Controller of Examinations, is officiating as the Registrar. Joint Registrar RPS Bedi is officiating as the Controller of Examinations. Balkar Singh, who was the Director, College Development, is officiating as the Dean Academics.