M A I N   N E W S

DAV institutes lose “minority status”
Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 19
In a significant development, the Coordination Committee of Vice Chancellors, has decided to enforce UGC/state government's norms while selecting Principals, lecturers in all the DAV Colleges, thus ending their 'minority status', enjoyed by the management in Punjab for the last about 35 years.

Talking to TNS today, Mr M.P. Singh, Secretary Higher Education, said that henceforth it would be mandatory for DAV institutes to have nominees of VCs and DPI as per UGC norms, in their selection committees.

The meeting which was presided over by Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Deputy Chief Minister, and participated by Vice-Chancellors of Guru Nanak Dev University and Punjabi University, Patiala, and representatives of Punjab Technical University and Panjab University had taken the decision on the basis of the legal opinion sought from Legal Remembrance.

Since the inception of Guru Nanak Dev University in 1969, the DAV educational institutions had been insisting on making independent appointments without involving representations of Vice Chancellors or DPI . The decision would affect the 18, out of total 700 educational institutes, being run by the DAV Managements in the state.

However, when contacted, Dr S.P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor, GNDU, who was also party to the above decision said that the interest of all the 'qualified' teachers and Principals, appointed by the DAV management till the announcement of judgement would be safe-guarded if they fulfilled the pre-requisite qualifications laid down by the UGC. He, however, said that all the appointments made after the judgement would be reviewed.

The decision of the state government has also come as a big jolt for Sikh, Jain and Christian educational institutions in the state which had been demanding 'minority status' on the pattern of DAV Colleges . So much so Mr Bharpur Singh, Secretary, Sikh Educational Society, Chandigarh, in a letter to GNDU, had threatened to make independent appointments without involving representatives of DPI and VCs on pattern of DAV .

However, Mr D.R. Gupta, Director, DAV Colleges, New Delhi, said that it was shocking that the state government was 'misguided' on the minority status, being enjoyed by the DAV educational institutes in Punjab since 1970s .

He claimed that the judgement of the apex court was in favour of the DAV managements which had clearly mentioned that the state government or the universities could not interfere in the appointments of teaching and non-teaching by the DAV management.