EDUCATION

Selections row does not spare VC's department
By Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — Along with speculations on whether Prof M.M. Puri, Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University will get an extension, campus is also full of opinions on the appointments controversy.

The VC's own Department of Political Science has also not remained untouched by this. The candidates who have been left out are complaining. Two persons were put on the panel of the Department of Correspondence Studies, though the posts were not advertised.

"How can the selections be made when there was no formal advertisement for the posts?" a teacher said. One candidate on the waiting list in a regular-studies department has been shifted to the Department of Correspondence Studies.

The move was, however, cleared by the university Syndicate and the Senate, though the decision was not unanimous. The difference of opinion was mentioned by about five members of the Syndicate.

Another point being raised is that all candidates who have been selected to teach in the department do not have the required qualification. The candidates were required to have specialised in modern political analysis and international politics.

A senior university official said the VC had the right to shift teachers within the existing financial framework. There had been earlier instances of the practice as well, he said.

The VC had the right to decide the merit, the senior official said. He also said a candidate selected for the post was expected to have a thorough knowledge in these areas of specialisation. He said political science was a multidimensional discipline.

Another case refers to an appointment in the Department of Mathematics. Ms Urmila, a PhD in the subject, was placed at number one on the waiting list. However, she was allegedly ignored to "adjust" another teacher who was on the waiting list of the Department of Evening Studies.

It has also been said that several selected candidates were had not done doctorates and the cases needed a relook.

Sources said in the case of an appointment in the Department of Biophysics, the faculty of the department had written to the university, showing their difference of opinion on the selection. The selected candidate did not have the required qualifications.

In another appointment in the Department of History, the selected candidate had applied in two branches of the department with different CVs.

The university House had earlier opposed the inclusion of Prof Ramakant in the committee, before which, his son was to appear. Prof Ramakant, however, is said to have informed the chair about this before the interview. This has been seen as an attempt to influence the selection committee.

An official, however, said that earlier also, there had been cases when a post which had been non-productive in a department for over five years, had been shifted to another department. Qualifications and the merit of the candidates had been closely monitored in each case. Most of the appointments have been cleared by the Senate and the Syndicate. Sources said, however, such decisions had been contested on various grounds.

There are also rumours that the VC has resigned or that he has been given an extension and another senior fellow has been made the VC. Journalists have spent hours in the VC office, trying to extract information from sources, but, rumours are all which they get to hear.

Re-appear exam, PEC style
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — How can a re-appear examination be conducted if the results of the earlier examination have not been declared formally?

Rationally they cannot be, but the local Punjab Engineering College has decided to conduct the examination of re-appear cases of first semester. The examination were scheduled after the second semester examination.

Prof Rajnish Prakash, principal, however, clarified that the college gave definite information to students about the status of their results. In fact, the university has been informed in this regard. Students were only seeking additional time gap for their examination, he added.

The date sheet has been announced. Students visiting The Tribune yesterday expressed their dismay at the situation of the college authorities not understanding the situation but sticking to the decision of conducting the examination even in the wake of non-declaration of the earlier examination results.

3 more night schools begin
From a Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — The Education Department of UT started three night schools in Sector- 40 A Government High School, Palsora and Maloya today.

The school in Sector 40-A was visited by Mr D.S Saroya, D.P.I (School) accompanied by Mr B. Kalia, DEO, and Mr Chanchal Singh, ADEO. There were about 125 students aged between 5 and 35. The classes will be held every evening from 5.30 p.m to 7.30 p.m.

Each student has been provided with notebooks, pencils, sharpeners and refreshments. The teachers are from the various city schools. "I am here to do some social work and help those people who want to achieve something in life", said Mrs Balwinder Kaur, a volunteer.

The hall where the children had assembled did not have a fan. Even the light provided for these classes was insufficient, causing inconvenience to the children.

Most of the students were from the slum areas and very enthusiastic about the classes.

BVB students give 10,000 relief
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — Students of the Interact Club of the Sector 27 Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan have collected Rs 10,000 in response to an appeal of the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for the people of the drought-hit areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

A cheque for Rs 10,000 was presented to the Adviser to the Administrator, Mrs Vineeta Rai, for onward transmission to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

CULTURE

Shiv Batalvi nite on May 27
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — The Punjab Arts Council is planning several cultural activities starting with the Shiv Kumar Batalvi nite on May 27, the Chairman of the council, Mr H.S. Bhatty, said here today.

While the Punjab Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, will preside over the function, the Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor, Dr J.S. Ahluwalia, will be the chief guest. The wife of Batalvi, Arun Batalvi, will be the guest of honour, he said.

The famous Ajoka Theatre group from Lahore will present its latest production, Dukhan, detailing the plight of women, at Tagore Theatre on June 7. The play has been directed by Matiha Gohar, while the script is by her husband, Shahid Nadeem.

Ms Harjinder Kaur, President of the Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi, informed that the akademi would honour Hans Raj Hans, Manohar Deepak and Bhag Singh for their services in the fields of music, dance and drama at a function at Tagore Theatre on June 11.

Besides, the council will sponsor the controversial play Sakharam Binder directed by Umesh Kant.

Guru Gangani to teach kathak
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — Dance lovers of the city will have a lot of excitement to look forward to with none less than great kathak exponent Guru Rajinder Gangani offering to train them in the coming days.

The Guru, on the invitation of the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi is due to conduct a Jaipur kathak workshop from May 26 to 28.

Guru Gangani has many credits to his name, including tours abroad to promote the dance form through lecture demonstrations. As a soloist, he has performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London and the Festival of India in the USSR. He has also travelled to America, Italy, Germany, France, China, Japan, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

A children's theatre workshop is also due to be conducted from June 15 to 30 by National School of Drama faculty. Enrolment for the same is being done in Karuna Sadan, room no 11.

Tele-serial on Punjabiat
From Our Correspondent

DERA BASSI, May 24 — A number of residents of the nearby villages thronged the Mubarikpur police post, near here, to watch the shooting of a tele-serial Tuta wala Khu being made for the Punjabi channel Lashkara.

The scenes today shot of the serial, based on the novel of Sohan Singh Sital, revolved around B.N. Sharma (Police Inspector), Michal (a village woman) and Harminder (a bad character). Besides the police post, different shots of the serial were also taken in a nearby house here.

Director Mohan Singh said that the serial, which epitomised the Punjabiat will propel the Punjabi literature and Punjabiat to the international level. An honest effort had been made to adhere to the original script. Despite difficulties of creating partition of the country atmosphere, every effort had been made to give justice to the script and that was why he had chosen the villages around Chandigarh for shooting purposes.

A majority of the characters had been taken from Punjab and they included Dr Ranjeet, Dr Savinder Mahal, Michal, Kuldip Singh, Jai Sahib, Dr Sahib Singh, Kulwant Khatra, Pinki Saggu, Rajinder Rosy, Sucheta and Babita.

A spokesman of the Lashkara channel said that shooting of the next home production of this channel Apne Begane will commence on May 26 under the direction of Rakesh Bharti.