Chandigarh, September 1
Mounting political criticism and “fear of reprisal” during the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections today forced the Punjab government to do a volte-face on the issue of Central varsity status for Panjab University.
The administration today faxed a message to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) and the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry, withdrawing the no-objection certificate (NOC) it had sent to Delhi last week.
Punjab did not participate in the meeting scheduled for today with the principal secretary to the Prime Minister T.K.A Nair, and instead sent a short message, saying some “misgivings” had forced the Punjab government to ask “the Union government not to give a go-ahead to the proposal to grant the Central university status to Panjab University, Chandigarh”.
Punjab, which contributes Rs 20 crore (as against the share of 60 per cent) out of the budget of Rs 1,600 crore, has changed its mind out of reprisal from detractors, even as officials feel that 169 colleges, teachers and students would benefit immensely if the university got the central varsity status.
Punjab has raised an objection, as it felt some “intellectuals” as well as the Congress would make it an election issue. But technically, Panjab University has been under the direct control of the Centre since 1947. The Vice-President of India is its chancellor and the vice-chancellor
is appointed by Delhi.
As the Prime Minister was keen to have Central funding for various educational projects in Punjab like an agriculture research centre and
a cultural research centre, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has written a separate letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, communicating the decision of the Punjab government.
According to Badal’s media advisor Harcharan Bains today’s decision has been taken after consultations with legislators, people’s representatives, and Cabinet colleagues.
Bains said the decision became necessary in the light of the reaction of people consulted by the government. He added that it was necessary to remove certain misgivings that have risen in the minds of some Punjabi intelligentsia. The government, he said, was committed to improving standard of education in Punjab at all levels and would continue to seek centrally funded IITs and IIMs in Punjab. Given the reaction of the Punjab government towards the Prime Minister’s alma mater, it is felt that the move of the Punjab government may adversely affect the government’s proposal for setting up two Central universities in the state at Bathinda and a world-class university at Amritsar.
It may be mentioned that the Panjab University Teachers Union (PUTA) has been agitating for the central university status for the university for the past many years. Its argument is that if Panjab University became a central university, it would remove the resource crunch and improve both teaching and research on campus and in the 169 affiliated colleges.
Sources in the Punjab government said even though the state government had withdrawn its NOC issued on August 26, it is up to the Union government to take a decision in this regard. “It is simply a matter of wrong timing. Politicians in Punjab don’t want to take any chances with the Lok Sabha elections. If the parliamentary polls were not due later this year, the NOC would not have been withdrawn,” a senior bureaucrat said.
