Students hold protest seeking financial grant for cash-strapped Punjabi University

Ravneet Singh

Patiala, February 21

Ahead of the Punjab budget, students at Punjabi University, Patiala, today shut the university entry gates and launched a protest seeking grants for the cash-strapped institute. The university,which has seen its financial woes worsen over the years, has been given repeated assurances by the government to relieve its fiscal burden, but to no avail.

Students said the protest was organised on International Mother Language Day (Feb 21) to bring to light the dismal financial condition of one of only two universities named after a language world over.

The students associated with organisations including All India Students Federation (AISF), Punjab Students’ Union (PSU), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Punjab Students’ Union Lalkar, and Punjab Radical Students’ Union (PRSU) shut the campus entry gates and held the protest from 8 am to 12 pm. A huge rush was seen outside as students gathered in protest, while faculty members and non-teaching officials reached the campus to join duties but failed to enter the premises.

As such, no classes were held throughout the day.

The students demanded awaiver of the university’s Rs 150 crorebankloan, an increase in its monthly grants, recruitment of teaching and other employees at its constituent colleges, construction of new hostels, increase in library budget and separate provision of budget for constituent colleges.

Rashpinder Singh, a representative of the PRSU, said, “While the state government is claiming that it is making efforts to proliferate Punjabi language, it has failed to elevate the University’s financial burden despite issuing repeated assurances.”

Importantly, the state government is supposed to hold the state budget session in the last week of February. Student leaders said the state government should provide grants for the university as per its previous assurances.

Pankaj Mohindru, a professor, said, “The government has completed one year but is yet to bail the university out of its fiscal mess. The students are concerned about the university’s future.”

Fiscal condition:

As per the University’s budget estimates of 2022-23, Punjabi University is expected to remain in a deficit of Rs 206 crore. The state government had in 2022 implemented the new pay scales for non-teaching and teaching employees which has raised the university’s bar of expenditure by a whooping Rs 100 crore a year. The university has been awaiting an increase in grant of Rs 100 crore per year from the government but received only verbal assurances during two visits of the Chief Minister.