Panjab University awaits Senate House, voter registration from January 23, says VC

Months ahead of her tenure coming to an end, Panjab University Vice-Chancellor (VC) Renu Vig hosted an informal interaction with mediapersons on Tuesday. While Dr Vig talked about developments one of oldest educational institutions of the nation witnessed during her tenure, she dodged The Tribune query regarding her experience in tackling last year’s protest, which finally ended on November 27 with the release of Senate elections schedule.

The VC welcomed the decision on holding the Senate elections in September, and revealed that the university would open graduate voter registration on January 23. The university is also taking a step further in incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education by introducing courses in local colleges. “Three new courses BSc AI, BSc Data Science and BSc Machine Learning will be introduced in colleges and later to the university curriculum. The institution has been following the National Education Policy (NEP) for the undergraduate courses, and from the upcoming session, it will be introduced to the postgraduate course as well. Since the postgraduate courses are already aligned with the expert curriculum, it will be easy to adapt,” she said.

She also discussed reclaiming the university’s assets in Panipat and converting these into textile research centres.

Support from government

The VC maintained that both Central and Punjab governments had extended and fulfilled their commitments by releasing grants. “We had earlier introduced the 7th Pay Commission and the government helped us throughout. Even considering our demands, both governments provided us financial assistance. I think, barring the Rs 35-crore grant under the Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) scheme, we have received the majority of the grants,” the VC said.

While talking about the demand for OBC quota in admissions, she said a request had been made to the Central Government, which is pending due to technical reasons.

Smart parking cards

“We have been trying to structure the parking of vehicles on the campus. The Smart Parking Cards have been issued to teachers, and will be next issued to the hostellers, so the number of other vehicles on the campus can be curbed,” said Dr Vig.

When asked about the possibilities of serving a second term, the VC again “smiled calmly”. In the past, VCs have got one extended term. Being the first female VC of the university, she is expected to get extension. She was appointed as the 14th VC of the university in March of 2023.