PTU staff protest Rs 75 crore transfer to varsity

Tribune News Service

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Jalandhar, July 14

Tension gripped the campus when 400 staff members of IK Gujral Punjab Technical University found Rs 75 crore had been transferred to the newly set up Maharaja Ranjit Singh State Technical University in Bathinda.

The move angered the staff that had been on strike since Friday over the transfer of money to the university. They demanded that the state government roll back the decision.

They alleged Officiating Registrar Dr Amanpreet Singh, Deans Dr AP Singh and Dr Buta Singh and Finance Controller Dr SK Mishra did not take them into confidence before transferring the money.

The staff members held a march from the campus to the adjoining Punjab Institute of Technology, where the four officials were holding a meeting. The protesters demanded the officials’ resignation. The officials, however, said they were under pressure from the government to transfer the money.

Rakesh Verma, Officiating VC-cum-Secretary, Technical Education, came to the campus, but failed to resolve the matter.

The staff members said they would continue the protests until the authorities at the university stopped transferring funds to Maharaja Ranjit Singh State Technical University. The protesters alleged they no longer trusted the top officials as they transferred the funds even though they were on strike, demanding funds should not be transferred from the corpus.