Memorandum of assn agenda withdrawn

Chandigarh, March 29

After a protest by the staff and students of the PEC University of Technology over the changes in memorandum of association (MoA) today, the authorities have withdrawn the issue from its agenda which was tabled in the Board of Governors meeting.

The authorities proposed an amendment in the memorandum of association (MoA) which is the rulebook of the PEC. Sources said the MoA was decade old and after the institute got the status of the deemed to be university, the UGC issued new guidelines which the institute was yet to adopt. To make the changes in the MoA, an agenda was tabled in the BoG meeting.

The Punjab Engineering College Employees Union staged dharna in front of the new academic block of the institute against the agenda.

The union members said, “Anurag Aggarwal, Home Secretary-cum-Finance Secretary, Dr S B Deepak Kumar, Secretary, Technical Education, Rakesh Popli, Joint Secretary and Special Secretary of Technical Education, on the request of the employees accepted the demand to remove the agenda of the MoA.”

While clarifying the issue, PEC director Manoj Arora said, “It was a rumour among the staff that we are going to privatise the institution. The administration has approved Rs 100 crore for next five years for revamping the institute. Infact, the PEC authorities are taking up the issue with administration that the expenditure of salary should taken by the administration.”

The union members also alleged that the amendments were proposed in the BoG is for finishing and cancelation of the powers of Chandigarh Administration from the MoA. They alleged that authorities drafted the proposal keeping in view the personal interest of the person sitting at the helm of affairs of the institute for taking administrative and financial power. The MoA was issued by the Chandigarh Administration after a lot of discussions and approved by Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD).