Govt to check mushrooming of agri colleges in state

Charanjit Singh Teja

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Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 18

The colleges and deemed universities that offer degree courses of agriculture will soon come under the scanner of the state government.

Education Minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said the government would take up the matter with the University Grants Commission (UGC) and take legal advice from Advocate General in this regard.

Cheema was in city to attend the 31st North Zone Inter University Youth Festival at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).

Interacting with mediapersons, Cheema said the issue of private colleges and deemed universities was in the notice of the government and they would take up the matter with the UGC.

There is no regulatory body on agricultural colleges in the state. In the absence of any check, a large number of colleges and deemed universities have emerged in the state which were offering agriculture courses without having proper infrastructure.

The authorities at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) had written to the state government to consider PAU as a regulatory body to authorise a college. The government, however, did not respond on PAU’s proposal. Cheema said the government would take legal opinion from the Advocate General in this regard.

Speaking on the SP Salwinder Singh’s confession to National Investigation Agency (NIA), Cheema said: “The black sheep can be in every force and we can’t accuse all officials of Punjab police for wrongdoings of one person. We are coordinating with the investigation agencies in this regard.”

Reacting on the thrashing of inspection staff at a school in Khanna, Cheema said the department would take strict action against the guilty.

Protesting students submit memorandum

Meanwhile, PAU students, who have been protesting against the Punjab Government, also gave a memorandum to the Education Minister and demanded to change the recruitment criteria for vacancies of Agricultural Development Officers (ADOs).