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One of the country’s oldest universities established in undivided Punjab’s Lahore in 1882, Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh, is in the middle of another turmoil. The centre of controversy this time is the delay in the varsity’s Senate elections. Though the matter to conduct elections of Senate — a 91-member decision-making body of the university of which 47 are elected — is currently sub-judice in the Punjab and Haryana High Court , the delay is being seen as an “attempt by BJP -led Centre to overtake and undercut the democratic structure of the university”, as being alleged by opposition parties including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which is ruling in Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Congress etc. The issue has brought these Punjab parties together against the BJP as the university stands as a legacy for Punjab and its people. This is not the first time when the political parties in Punjab have alleged that the central government was trying to “overpower” PU’s democratic structure. The university, which has the country’s vice-president as its ex-officio chancellor, in June 2022 had seen another row when there were reports of the Centre’s plans to convert the PU into a central university. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had shot off a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to retain the statue of PU as an “inter-state body corporate”. Mann in his letter had stated that at the time of reorganisation of Punjab in 1966, the university was declared “inter-state body corporate” under the Section 72 (1) of Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966. “Since its inception, the PU has been continuously functioning in the state of Punjab.. It was shifted from Lahore.. the then capital of Punjab, to Hoshiarpur and then Chandigarh , the present capital of Punjab. About 175 colleges of Punjab are affiliated with PU,” Mann had stated. The chief minister had further stated that as per the Act, the maintenance grants to the university were to be shared by Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and UT Chandigarh in the ratio of 20:20:20:40 respectively, but after Haryana and HP withdrew from this arrangement from 1976, Punjab and Chandigarh have borne the financial responsibility. Mann had added that the Punjab government was giving Rs 42 crore grant-in aid besides Rs 100 crore which is collected from constituent colleges in Punjab. “State government would not like any change in the nature and character of the university… It has an emotional place in the hearts of people of Punjab. It is a symbol of Punjab’s legacy and synonymous to Punjab,” the letter had said. The current issue The existing term of the Senate ended on October 31 this year but the fresh election has not been conducted, leading to protests by students, political parties and other stakeholders. A plea has been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court demanding immediate elections, while stating: “the delay in conducting the senate elections is a violation of the provisions of the Panjab University Act, which mandates periodic elections for the constitution of the senate… No tangible action has been taken to ensure that the elections are held in a timely manner”. The petition further said the delay in the election is affecting the functioning and governance of the university. The high court has sought responses from the Centre and the university by December 9. Vice-Chancellor Renu Vig had said that she will take up the matter with Vice President-cum-Chancellor Jagdeep Dhankhar . Vig had said the varsity had prepared an election schedule for the Senate elections four times and sent them to the chancellor’s office but the approval was still awaited. “We will take up the matter with the chancellor regarding the Senate and what’s to be done next as the term of the previous senate is now over and the varsity does not have a new Senate in place,” she had said. Mritunjay Kumar, secretary, PU Teachers Association (PUTA), said ideally the election should have been completed between April to October 31, however, it has been delayed by almost six months. “Since the matter is currently sub-judice in the high court and the university administration has already written to the chancellor’s office for further direction, we need to wait and watch,” he added. Dr Hapreet Dua, incumbent senate and syndicate member; professor at GGN Khalsa College, Ludhiana , and one of the petitioners in the high court demanding immediate election, claimed for the past five years, an effort has been made to “destroy the democratic setup” of the university. “The Punjab and Haryana High Court has already given a landmark judgement on the PU’s democratic setup way back in 2021 that the governments cannot take any such step and PU’s Senate cannot be tampered with. Any such effort to destroy PU’s fabric will not be tolerated and we will go to any extent to save this historic university,” Dua concluded. Majithia leads protest The students are protesting under the banner of “Panjab University Bachao Morcha” demanding that elections be held immediately. Senior SAD leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia Tuesday led a protest along with students demanding elections be held to the varsity’s Senate and urged UT Administrator-cum-Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria to intervene and scrap the false cases registered against students. Majithia also called for convening a special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to pass a resolution to demand holding of elections. “I want to remind the BJP that you need to uphold the Constitution in the real sense of the word instead of just pledging loyalty to it. The Constitution came into being to protect the democratic rights of the people; they should have the right to elect the Senate,” he added. Alleging that the central government was seeking to do away with democratic bodies of the varsity, Majithia also condemned the police action against students when they tried to proceed to meet chief minister Bhagwant Mann when he was visiting the campus recently. While condemning the chief minister for “unleashing the police on the students which resulted in the manhandling of girl students in the absence of women constables”, Majithia said “it is also condemnable that students were charged with non-bailable offences”. He also appealed to all students to come together to save the institution besides assuring them that the SAD would fight alongside them and also assist them in their legal battle. He also appealed to the students to submit an application to the Chandigarh SSP as well as the UT administrator to protest against the false cases registered against them. SAD students’ wing Students Organization of India (SOI) president Ranjit Singh Dhillon said repeated attempts were being made to finish Punjab’s right to the varsity with an attempt also being made to affiliate colleges in Haryana with the university. Anandpur Sahib MP and senior AAP leader Malvinder Singh Kang had also joined student protests recently and slammed the BJP-led Centre for “trying to undermine the Senate”. “Undermining the Senate is a part of the Centre’s strategy to gain more control over PU. There was no reason for the chancellor to delay the notification of election. The Senate is a democratic body which involves all the stakeholders. He should also look at the sentiments of the students and teachers in the varsity. I have already written to him and the education minister and we will further pursue the matter,” Kang had said. Other issues – Arrears of PU employees including teaching and non-teaching staff, as per the revised UGC pay scales, are yet to be released – Grant of PhD increments is still in the pipeline. PUTA has alleged that Punjab government was “dilly-dallying the matter” – Enhancement of retirement age to 65 years: Already implemented in UT Chandigarh colleges but not PU (Case is sub-judice in high court). Current retirement age in PU is 60. None
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