Punjabi University destroys copies of book published on Maharana Pratap

Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 20

Punjabi University, Patiala, has destroyed copies of ‘Maharana Pratap: Apex of Chivalry and Heroics’ published by the university’s publication bureau. The book was released by former Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore last year. The university said the decision was taken over low quality content and failure to give credit to the former HoD, Department of History in the publication. Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor Prof Arvind said the university would recover the cost of printing from the erring officials.

It was in June 2021 that the book published by the university’s publication bureau and released by Governor of Punjab VP Singh Badnore during a webinar conducted on the occasion of the 481st birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap. In September the book was flagged for various mistakes. Former head of the history department, Dr Jaspal Kaur Dhanju, had also raised concerns over the book’s contents.

Speaking to The Tribune, Prof Arvind said, “More than the matter of plagiarism, there was concern over lack of giving credit to the former head of the department in the book. It was also found lacking due to various grammatical and other mistakes. We had formed a committee to look into the matter and suggest action. The committee then decided to ban and consequently destroys it. Therefore, all copies of the book present at the university’s publication bureau have been destroyed. The committee also suggested that the university recover the cost of publishing and printing the book.” The VC said he had directed officials to submit details of expenditure incurred which would be recovered from erring officials.

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