Ludhiana, April 23
While thousands of students studying in the colleges of Punjab Technical University pass out with graduate and postgraduate degrees every year, no convocation has ever been held for them. While every year students are assured that convocations would be held, but finally after a year they are told to collect their degrees from their college offices.
The students complain that since their degrees are received in their colleges after a gap of more than a year and most of them have to apply for higher education or jobs, they have to collect their degrees directly from the university before that time. For this, they have to write a note to the Registrar and deposit an amount of Rs 2,000 per degree with the university. In such a case, the degree is prepared and delivered the same day.
Even the college authorities said that despite repeated requests to the university authorities to hold convocations, no arrangements were being made. They said this year, too, they had received degrees for the pass-out students of year 2001 with a message to distribute these among the students without holding any convocation.
At Guru Nanak Engineering College, Gill Road, annual convocation was held regularly for more than 30 years. At that time it was affiliated with Panjab University. But since the past two years, when the college got affiliated with the PTU, no convocation has been held. Principal H.K. Bhuttar said she had written to the university authorities advocating for holding of convocation to revive the old tradition.
Prof G.S. Dua, in charge of the Gujranwala Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology, said last year it was decided by the university to hold convocations and each college was given a schedule with the names of respective chief guests. However, these colleges were later told that the schedule had been cancelled and the degrees be delivered to the students by post, he said. When contacted, Mr S.K. Bhatia, Registrar of the university, said the Vice-Chancellor of the university was busy in admissions, conduct of online courses and holding of CET examination and he could not have attended convocations in colleges.
