Approval pending, future of PAU students at stake

Manav Mander
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, July 16

Nearly 50 students, who graduated from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), are at the crossroads after Chaudhary Swarn Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University (CSKHPAU), Palampur, refused them admission as the accreditation process of PAU is still pending. Accreditation is renewed after every five years.

The students, who fail to get admission in PAU postgraduate courses, generally prefer CSKHPAU, but when they reached there for counselling their forms were not accepted.

A student who went for counselling to take admission in MSc course said their forms were not accepted as PAU’s accreditation is pending. “I failed to get admission in PAU and HP university was my hope and now they have also shown me the door,” he added.

PAU VC, Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, said, “The accreditation of PAU is pending, but it is not their fault. We applied well in time in December and the team also came for inspection, but the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has yet not completed the process. Besides, such condition is applicable to private institutes and PAU should not be included in such conditions.”

Dr Gurinder Kaur Sangha, Dean, College of Basic Science, said she had a word with Assistant Director General, EQR, ICAR, Dr G Venkateshwarlu, who said students from universities whose accreditation was under process should be accepted for admission.

Dr Ashwani Kumar, Dean, College of Basic Science of Chaudhary Swarn Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur, said, “The prospectus of the university says the students of only those universities which are accredited with ICAR will be considered for admission to the university. We cannot go against the prospectus and not only PAU but students from many other universities have been denied admission on this basis.”