Appointment of retired persons in PU causes rancour
By Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 1 — The appointment of superannuated persons for various posts in Panjab University has been under constant attack and a bone of contention, causing seething resentment among many. The decision to terminate the services of these people has been hanging fire ever since it was first proposed a few months ago and the issue missed to make it to the Syndicate meeting held on April 24 in spite of the best efforts of the members of the committee who had recommended the termination.

Most appointments are in direct violation of the university calendar under rule 18 (b) which states that “for persons re-employed after superannuation and those holding temporary or contract appointments, the appointment and condition of service including leave rules in the case of such persons shall be determined by the Syndicate.’’ However, in most cases, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof MM Puri, chose to get the nod of the Syndicate only after making these appointments.

The Chief Security Officer, Mr Sita Ram, who was appointed with effect from August 1997 for a period of three months against the vacant post of CSO and given an extension till October 21, 1997, has been continuing in office since then. Further, he has been given residential accommodation meant for permanent employees.

His appointment is in gross violation of rules since the university had advertised the post and asked for a graduate while Mr Sita Ram happens to be only a matriculate. When contacted, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, a senator and a member of the committee which has recommended termination of services of these people, said, “It is a case of backdoor entry since it was done without any advertisement .’’

The services of Mr T R Bajaj can also be dispensed with since there is no sanctioned post in the university for Officer on Special Duty (Library) for the Regional Centre, Muktsar. He was appointed for three months, given an extension for the same period which has been further extended till July 13 of this year.

The appointment of Mr HC Sethi, Technical Advisor, is in complete negation of Rule 18 (B) and was done without the prior approval of the Syndicate. Besides, there is no slot in the university for this post which is co-terminus with the term of the Vice-Chancellor. On similar lines is the appointment of Mr Shiv Dutt Sharma, appointed as Advisor (Architect), on a part-time basis. The payment for both posts is being charged against the post of Architect and sources point out that “it is a financial irregularity and the posts need to be abolished.’’

In tune with the appointments of Mr Sethi and Mr Shiv Dutt Sharma, is the appointment of Mr RP Sharma, appointed on contract as Deputy Controller of Audit, at the instance of the two when an accountant could easily have been chosen from somebody in the department. He is being charged against the two vacant posts of part-time auditors.

A request has been made for an extension to Mr Jagdish Ram Verma, Superintendent, which is unlikely to be granted. His term expired on March 28 this year. The appointment of Manager, Guest House, Mr Chander Mohan Sharma, is another unpalatable decision which is under fire since there exists the post of Supervisor, Housekeeping, under university rules, while there is no place of a manager. He was appointed on December 18 for a period of one year on contract.

The members are seeking the removal of Mr BS Ojha, Executive Adviser of the IAS Coaching Centre from December 1 last year, on account of non-performance. He along with Mr Shiv Dutt were appointed without the prior approval of the Syndicate.

The Secretary to the Vice-Chancellor, Dr I N Chaudhary, is also in the line of fire. The members of the committee have suggested that the SVC should not be given a grade more than that of a Reader and he should not be allowed to contribute to the provident fund since he is a retired employee of the university and has earlier drawn his provident fund. Further, allowing him to withdraw his gratuity is a patent negation of rules since only permanent employees can avail of the facility.

The others, under the case, are Dr N N Pangotra, Consultant for the M Ed programme in the Department of Correspondence Studies till December 2, 1999, Mr SK Bijlani, appointed to facilitate the institution-industry interface, along with Dr KK Dhir and Mr BS Dhillon whose services are likely to be terminated in the forthcoming Syndicate meeting scheduled for May 21.

A Senator, Prof Charanjit Chawla, is of the opinion that the approval of the Syndicate is not neded to terminate the services of the 16 superannuated persons. The authorities had sought some time to work out the process of relieving these people and giving them some notice period but two months have already elapsed since then and no action has been taken, he adds. Dissent on the appointments was recorded in the Syndicate when the item of appointments of superannuated people was put forth for the approval of the house.

The issue is of utmost urgency on account of the financial crisis being faced by the university and these contractual appointments are a huge drain on the scarce resources of the university which can manage these posts by giving additional charge to qualified employees at a little extra cost, sources state.The authorities need to put that in their pipe and smoke it and terminate the services, says one.

Also, in a meeting of the Dr Deepak Manmohan Singh-Mr Rajinder Deepa group, it was decided to ascertain who was responsible for the delay in termination of service and fix responsibility along with an explanation of the authorities as to where the funds to pay salaries of these people would come from.

The committee which has decided the case of the 16 superannuated employees comprises Dean University Instruction, Prof IBS Passi, Registrar, Prof Paramjit Singh, Prof Satya P Gautam, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala and Mr Ashok Goyal, all members of the Senate.

Novel way to circumvent order
By U.K. Bhanot
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 1 — Liquor vendors in the Union Territory of Chandigarh have found a novel way of circumventing the Chandigarh Administration’s order fixing the minimum prices for various brands of liquor to be sold.

Generally the authorities fix the maximum prices at which articles are sold by manufacturers and retailers, but in the case of liquor’s vendors its the minimum prices which are fixed by the government keeping in view the quality of liquor to be maintained.

The Administration had ordered that the minimum prices of liquor for various brands in the union territory would be economy brand Rs 100 per bottle, deluxe Rs 175, premium brand Rs 235 and country liquor Rs 65.

In Chandigarh only beer can be sold at prices not fixed by the Administration but these range from Rs 30 to 35 per bottle. The prices may be even less in certain cases.

However, in order to overcome the disadvantage of the fixed minimum prices, certain vendors have started giving gifts as an incentive to attract customers.

A hoarding at a shop says: “Beer ke ilava agar aap aur kuchh khareedein, apna inam lena na bhulein” (if you buy anything other than beer do not forget to collect your gift). This suggests that buying and consuming liquor is something which deserves a prize. This is despite the fact that our national policy is to discourage drinking.

Another vendor plays a cassette calling upon the consumers to ring up the vendor at the given telephone numbers if the salesmen forget to give the “inam”. It will be sent to the consumer’s place, the cassette announces.

Defending the scheme of overcoming the phenomenon of the minimum fixed prices, a vendor says the gifts are very much in fashion. Cars, television sets, refrigerators, washing machine, etc are all being sold by offering the customers gifts like gold coins, music systems and other costly articles.

The liquor vendors in the city are offering glasses, stainless spoons, shampoos, sachets, keyrings, etc just to attract customers to buy liquor from their shops. These are very small items, he adds.

Phone subscribers annoyed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 1 — The increase in local call charges and the increase in telephone rentals has not gone down well with the local residents. They opined that the reduction in STD charges for cities within a 200 km-radius was welcome but the basic requirement was of local calls and the tariff in this segment should not have been raised.

The STD calling charges had been reduced but the pulse rates of local calls had been reduced from five minutes per call to three minutes per call, making local calls expensive. Rentals had been hiked and two slabs of Rs 360 and Rs 500 had been created, one for subscribers making upto 400 calls and another for subscribers making more than 400 calls on a bi-monthly basis. The charges of local calls had also been changed.

The President of the Chandigarh Telephone Subscribers Association, Mr Randhir Verma, said the department was not paying heed to services and was not functioning as a professional department. The rentals in Chandigarh had gone up recently when the exchange capacity was increased beyond 1 lakh lines.

The hike in local charges would result in loss of revenue to the department , Mr Verma said, while terming the hike as "anti-consumer ". The department should have made all paid services free following the hike, he said.

Mr Rajdeep Singh, an employee with a semi-government concern, said the reduction in STD rates would only help businessmen while the hike in local call charges and rentals would burden the middle class. Nowadays the maximum number of telephones were being installed in middle class homes. The department should have seen this before effecting the hike.

People would be forced to keep a check on the number of local calls as the rentals would also go up if more than 400 calls were made, opined Mr Shravan Bhardwaj of Sector 44. " However, since people have to call long distance to speak to their relatives, the reduction in STD charges is welcome,"he said. In his opinion, a large number of persons living in Chandigarh had their native places within a 200 km-radius.

On the contrary, Mr S. Kumaran of Sector 35 said no hike should have been effected as the middle class was already burdened with a hike in prices. Telephones should be treated as basic mode of communication. The hike did not mean that this would net in more revenue, but the number of calls would be reduced, he opined.