A quintessential teacher

Mohinder Singh

September 20 marks the birth centenary of the late Dr Amrik Singh. His father, Dr Gopal Singh, was Medical Officer in Abbottabad (Pakistan). Amrik Singh could have gone in for medicine like his father or civil services, as was the trend with the educated families in those days, but he decided to go in for teaching as a profession. After graduating from Khalsa College, Amritsar, he joined Government College, Lahore, for his Masters in English. After a brief stint in teaching, he joined the University of London for his PhD. Back home in 1960, he served as Associate Professor and later Professor and Head of the Department of English in the University of Delhi. He was the founder-director of the South Campus and later secretary of the Association of Indian Universities.

Apart from teaching, he showed keen interest in promoting the quality of education through his writings, seminars and workshops. During half a century of teaching, he wrote several books dealing with higher education. To encourage young teachers in expressing their views on academic matters, he started a bi-monthly, The Indian Book Chronicle, in 1976.

When in 1977 he was invited to take over as the Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala, he happily accepted the offer as in this he found an opportunity to implement his vision of higher education. He describes his stint in his book Asking for Trouble: What it means to be a Vice-Chancellor today. The advances that the university made in the first year of his appointment brought the institution attention at the national level. He arranged a national seminar on Mahatma Gandhi, and attracted talented scholars and teachers from all over India, including Ram Gopal Bajaj (who later became director of NSD). Bajaj’s play Jasma Odhan, performed in Patiala, drew in audiences not only from the city but also Chandigarh and other towns.

Some of the appointments made by Amrik Singh became a subject of controversy. Added to this was his decision to implement the report of a committee appointed to enquire into the conduct of some of the teachers during the tenure of the previous VC. It had recommended strong action against the ‘errant’ teachers and in some cases, termination from service. Teachers who had political links got the meeting of the Syndicate cancelled where the recommended action was to be taken. While the Chief Minister and the Governor privately admired his commitment to the cause of higher education, they felt helpless in protecting him in the face of strong political opposition. Left with no choice, Amrik Singh resigned as VC in 1979 and rejoined as secretary of the Association of Indian Universities and continued his reading and writing till his last days.

That Dr Amrik Singh had achieved the mission of his life — getting due respect for the teaching community —was clearly visible during his last journey when the President, Vice President and the Prime Minister joined his students and well-wishers in paying tributes to this quintessential teacher.

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