Ad hoc VCs running the show at 3 tech varsities

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 7

The Punjab Government, it appears, is relying on ad hoc Vice-Chancellors (VCs) to run affairs at the technical universities of the state. Of the four such universities, namely IK Gujral Punjab Technical University (PTU), Kapurthala; Maharaja Ranjit Singh PTU, Bathinda; Sardar Beant Singh State University, Gurdaspur; and Shaheed Bhagat Singh State University, Ferozepur, the ones at Bathinda, Gurdaspur and Ferozepur have officiating VCs.

Former Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit had flagged the issue, and the Supreme Court, too, amid an ongoing dispute between Governor CV Ananda Bose and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, recently mandated that only regular VCs shall be appointed to head all 36 state-aided universities in Bengal.

A war of words had erupted between Purohit and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann after the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 — seeking to replace the Governor with the CM as Chancellor of state-run universities — was recently returned without assent by the President of India. The CM had then stressed that a Chancellor of state-run universities should be an “elected Chief Minister” rather than “selected” — a reference to the then state Governor.

At present, the VC of IK Gujral PTU, Dr Susheel Mittal, holds the additional charge of Sardar Beant Singh State University, Gurdaspur, and Shaheed Bhagat Singh State University, Ferozepur. The additional charge of PTU-Bathinda was given to its Dean, Faculty of Sciences, Dr Sandeep Kansal, after the matter of non-appointment of VC reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Sources in the Technical Education and Industrial Training Department said the decision to appoint regular VCs at Ferozepur and Gurdaspur had been pending at the Chief Minister’’s Office (CMO). “The government has to clarify whether it wants to appoint regular VCs or go for the proposed merger of the four technical universities,” said a government functionary.

After the Ferozepur and Gurdaspur universities were set up during the tenure of the previous Congress government, the issue of financial viability and requirement of the four universities in a small state like Punjab was raised. Since 2021-2022, the government has been giving an annual grant of Rs 15 crore to the Gurdaspur and Ferozepur universities.

A four-member committee of experts set up by the government to decide the fate of the two universities had reportedly proposed making the Ferozepur and Gurdaspur universities campuses of Maharaja Ranjit Singh PTU and IK Gujral PTU, respectively. This, it said, would enable better academic exposure of the faculty and students of the merged universities.

Juggling charge

At present, the VC of IK Gujral Punjab Technical University (PTU), Dr Susheel Mittal, is holding the additional charge of Sardar Beant Singh State University, Gurdaspur, and Shaheed Bhagat Singh State University, Ferozepur. The additional charge of PTU-Bathinda was given to its Dean, Faculty of Sciences, Dr Sandeep Kansal, after the matter of non-appointment of VC reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court.