Panjab University Senate meeting: Fellows meet offline after almost two yrs

Advertisement

Chandigarh, March 27

Almost after a gap of two years, Panjab University’s first-ever blended mode of the Senate meeting was held at the Golden Jubilee Hall here today. The meeting, which was conducted in both online and physical mode, was attended by 58 fellows, whereas 10 fellows joined the meeting through the online mode. Earlier, since the Covid outbreak, only two Senate meetings were held through online mode.

Other approvals

• The House unanimously approved hike in usage charges for renting out campus sites for film shootings.
• A high-powered committed will be constituted by the Vice-Chancellor to consider the recommendation of the inspection committee regarding the issues raised against Kalgidhar Institute of Higher Education at Sri Muktsar Sahib.
• The House approved the recommendations of the Joint Academic and Administrative Committees of HSJ Dental College regarding the fees structure proposed for the NRI students of MDS.

Discussion on BoF recommendations

The House discussed first agenda of the recommendations of the Board of Finance (BoF) meeting held on March 11. A number of fellows deliberated on this issue and it was resolved that on behalf of the Panjab University governing body, the newly elected Punjab Government may be forwarded a representation in the form of a request letter to implement the 7th Pay Commission for the university’s teachers. While approving the Budget, the Senate also decided to adopt the 6th pay revision notification of the Punjab Government for non-teaching employees of the university and the disbursement will be subject to sanction/receipt of appropriate additional grants from the government concerned.

Generation of funds

During the deliberation on BoF recommendations, various fellows shared the emergent need of generating funds at the university level itself. It was discussed that all employees of the university should share their valuable inputs and plans for the generation of funds at the university level. Besides generating funds from grants and fee, fellows insisted that the university should work to generate funds through various other means.

Promotion policy

The long-pending promotion policy of the faculty of HSJ Dental College was also accepted by the House. It was decided that the proposal by a committee, constituted by the Vice-Chancellor, will find out modalities for approvals and any other requirements.

Exemption from property tax

In an important agenda item regarding the attachment orders of a building and demand notices of property tax worth Rs21 crore by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the House resolved that the university should not be treated as a non-government entity/private/commercial institution. On behalf of the governing House, a resolution was passed to request the UT Administration for the exemption from property tax under the Municipal Corporation Act.

Negotiations with Haryana government, Centre

In context of setting up of a technology enabling centre in Panipat, Haryana, in the 3,800 sq yd land of the PU, the Vice-Chancellor told the house that negotiations with the Haryana and the Centre Governments were already under process for setting up of the incubation-cum-skill development centre. “The outcome will be shared by the Vice-Chancellor accordingly. We are already in talks with both governments. We have been given a positive signal to set up a world-class skill learning centre at Panipat. Any development in this project will soon be updated to the House,” said Kumar.

Reduction of seats opposed

The agenda to reduce seats in (postgraduate) MA-Sanskrit from 68 to 40 was opposed by a majority of the members. While Kumar maintained that it would affect the PU’s points for NAAC ratings, fellows raised a combined voice against reducing the number of seats in Sanskrit course. Kumar, meanwhile, decided to explore the possibility of making the admission process flexible so that new students can be attracted for such courses. Priyatosh Sharma, one of the fellows, also demanded that food should be provided at subsidised rates to Economically Weaker Section (EWS) students in all hostels.

Walkout by VC

Just a few minutes before the start of the meeting, Kumar walked out of the hall after some Senators raised slogans against him. The Senators demanded to start the meeting with zero-hour. However, Kumar insisted that the agenda should be discussed first. During the five-hour long meeting, Kumar said some Senators were forcing the chair to call the meeting online instead of offline meeting.

Sports quota seats

On the issue of an increase in the number of sports quota seats in colleges, Kumar said the Panjab University Sports Committee should take the decision on its own. The committee had the full right and authority to take decision.