PU plans NCC as optional elective

Tribune News Service

Advertisement

Chandigarh, December 24

Panjab University is planning to introduce NCC as an optional elective subject for campus students. To consider the proposal, the communication which the university received from the University Grants Commission (UGC) is going to be tabled at a meeting of all chairpersons scheduled for December 27. 

The UGC has released a new notification stating that all universities are to offer NCC as an optional subject to the students. In a communication to the vice-chancellors of all the universities, UGC secretary Jaspal S Sandhu said, “The NCC is to be offered as an elective subject for the benefit of the students. A notification for the decision was released on November 11.”

PU NCC women’s wing coordinator Monica Munijal Singh said, “There are 20 seats under the NCC women’s wing for which they have received approximately 100 applications from various departments.” She said if the university authorities introduce the NCC as an elective, a large number of students would be interested in joining it. 

The communication referred to an earlier guideline issued by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) Ministry on August 23 this year informing about a letter from the Ministry of Defence in connection with implementing the NCC as an elective subject.

The decision for the implementation had been taken at the JSR&D conference on July 30, 2015, where it was decided that the NCC would be implemented as a subject across all universities.

It was also stated in the written communication that the university can implement the NCC as an elective subject and in case of any query in this regard, the authorities concerned can contact the Joint Secretary (Trg) and CAO, Office of the Joint Secretary (Trg), Chief Administrative Officer, Ministry of Defence, E-Block, Dalhousie Road, New Delhi.

Besides, in the meeting of chairpersons, the academic calendar for the session 2017-18 will also be tabled for information and discussion. The university has asked its departments to prepare an academic calendar containing the dates of all examinations, including mid-term exam and internal assessment. This will help students plan their summer internships and holidays in a better way. This is for the first time that the university is going to come up with such an initiative for the students. 

Moreover, the academic calendar will also contain the last date of teaching so that students can complete their attendance. The varsity, from the beginning of this session, had also instructed the departments to start keeping the monthly record of attendance, which the departments have been following. 

VC to hold discussions on financial concern 

PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Arun Kumar Grover will also brief the chairpersons on the financial concerns of the university and the shortage of faculty.