32nd Asian ranking, but Panjab varsity not quite there

China varsity has an edge

Better faculty

According to the ranking of the Times Higher education (THE), China university got 35.5 points under the teaching category, while the PU secured only 25.8 points under the same category.

No student evaluation of teachers at PU

A system of teacher evaluation, which was introduced by former Vice-Chancellor RC Sobti three years ago, has not yet been implemented by the PU. According to the proposal, students were to give a feedback on the performance of their teachers. They had to fill a form in which they had to judge the performance of their respective teachers. But this yardstick did not see the light of day.

Absenteeism

Teachers teach for fixed hours at the university and there are cases when they have not been available for days in their respective departments. On the condition of anonymity, the students of humanities and sciences said there were faculty members who were not taking regular classes and no action was taken against them by the heads of the departments concerned.

Industrial outlook

China leads again

Under the category of industrial outlook, China university got 48.4 points whereas the PU bagged a paltry 29.3 points.

Growing number of unemployed graduates

A gap in the skills imparted by the PU to its passout students and what is required by the industry is increasing the number of unemployed graduates every year.

Placement figures have declined

On taking a look into the record of the central placement cell of the university, one finds that the placement figures have declined in 2011 and 2012. According to the central placement cell records, 70 students of the university business school got campus placement in 2012 while its number was 115 in 2011. At the university Institute of Fashion Technology and Vocational Development, five students got campus placement in 2012, while its figure was 11 in 2011. In 2013, only 381 students were short listed for the final interview of the placement drive, whereas the number of students in the PU is around 14,000.

Industry income

PU far behind

Under this category, China again led with 40.4 points while the PU got 28.4 points for it.

Joint ventures needed to raise scholarship funds

Reason: So far, the university has not explored much in the area of industry income. Recently, Vice-Chancellor Arun Kumar Grover has planned to work out a model to invite corporate along with donors so that the scholarship funds increase in the coming years. Under the plan, the amount which a nuclear donor gave for a specific scholarship to the university would now approach some corporate houses to donate the similar amount for it and the scholarship will run in both their names.

Research work

PU ahead in this sphere

Leading in research, the PU got 14 points while China university got 13.4 points. Even in citation, the PU led with 84.7 points, while China university got 69.6 points.

PU research work well recognised internationally

Various researches conducted by the university are well recognised on the international platform. In fact, a large number of faculty members have been invited by the international universities to present their papers in their respective fields.

Deficient areas

Bias in grants for research work to depts

In the field of research at the PU, priority is given to science departments compared to social sciences and humanities.

According to the Budget figure of the last four years of a few science departments, the chemistry department got Rs 1.42 lakh, zoology Rs 3.28 lakh, bio-chemistry Rs 2.79 lakh, which includes animal plant and glass house, pharmaceutical chemistry Rs 1.58 lakh and Rs 89,371 to the pharmacology department.

Whereas the department of social sciences and humanities do not get any Budget for the research work from the kitty of the university, which includes economics, art, history and visual arts, Hindi, history, philosophy, political science, Panjabi lexicography, sociology and Urdu.

Records of the university revealed that a majority of the social sciences departments were getting various projects under the University Grants Commission (UGC), Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) and the Indian Council of Social Sciences Research through which they usually conducted the research work on various issues. Even though the science departments are also getting various projects for research, still the authorities are giving them hefty amount from their own kitty as research grant to these departments.

Poor infrastructure in departments

During a visit to various departments of the university, it was found that infrastructure was old and obsolete and despite a number of requests made by the heads of the departments it had fallen on deaf ears of the authorities concerned. Old furniture still adorn the classrooms and washrooms continue to leak. Unhygienic surroundings, poor conditions of canteens, which are running in temporary sheds, speak volumes of the standards it maintains. Faculty rooms lack fans and air conditioners. Till date a majority of the complaints have remained unresolved despite a number of reminders given to the authorities.

Power problem

Decades' old electric cables cannot bear the load of ACs. Recently, there was a short-circuit in the electric wiring of the NCC office located in the oldest building of the university. The electric wiring has not been changed for the past two decades and the power load has increased due to installation of air conditioners. This is not so only in this department but in all the old social sciences and science departments. The authorities are not allowing the faculty to install ACs due to old wiring.

Its history

• The university was established in 1882 at Lahore (now in Pakistan).

• After the Partition in 1947, the university functioned for almost a decade without a campus of its own. The administrative office was located at Solan and the teaching departments functioned from Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Delhi and Amritsar.

• In 1956, it was relocated to Chandigarh. Pierre Jeanerette designed the red sandstone university campus under the general guidance of legendary Le Corbusier.

• Till the re-organisation of Punjab in 1966, the university had its regional centres at Rohtak, Shimla and Jalandhar and its affiliated colleges were located in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Social sciences & humanities depts in bad shape

• Doors of three arts blocks have not been painted for the past more than five years.

• Three washrooms in the arts block have leakage problem.

• No cleanliness in the backyard of the Arts Block.

• Despite requests made to the authorities to replace old furniture, the faculty is still using old furniture in their cabins.

• In three arts blocks, there is only one smart classroom in the political science department.

• ROs installed in the arts blocks for water purification are not functioning properly.

Problem of space in science depts

• Old almirahs are lying in corridors due to shortage of space.

• All departments face parking problems.

17 Hostels don't match international standards

‘Globally, we are still a marginal player’

Recently, the PU has been ranked 32nd by THE amongst Asian universities, and it is something to be proud of, but do you think globally too the PU is having the same status?

Professor Arun kumar Grover, Vice-Chancellor, PU

There is no doubt that after getting such a ranking, the confidence of the faculty and students has been boosted, but globally, we are still a marginal player. We still have to go a long way to make a place for ourselves among the international universities. It was high time for those who are connected with the reputation and prestige of the university to pull up their socks and sustain the position achieved after putting in so much effort.

What are your plans for generating more revenue for the university as a number of projects have not been able to take off due to financial crunch?

At present, the expenditure of the university is being met from two sources - funds allocated by the Centre and the Punjab Government and the other is fee collected from students. Even though the PU is generating more revenue as compared to other prestigious universities of the country, we have to explore more avenues to become financially strong. The university can explore the idea of conducting exams of any outside agency after receiving nominal charges from them. The alumni could be another source that could be approached to get funds but it can only happen if they trust the credentials and reputation of the university. The contribution of the faculty in the fund-raising campaign is important, as they can bring in more projects for the university. Recently, the Central Government had asked us to cut down on the non-teaching staff.

What are the challenges the university is facing to sustain the position among top educational institutes?

We need fresh ideas to grow as an institute and for that we have to involve the students faculty and the research scholars. The need of the hour is to introduce integrated masters and PhD courses through which bright minds stay back at the university for long and strengthen the academic and financial fronts. We have to provide minimal scholarships to the students so that they remain connected to the university for a longer period of time.

How can we improve the standard of teaching at the university?

This year, all chairpersons have been asked that the young faculty that has been recruited recently should not be given burden of taking classes rather, they should be asked to prepare a paper which can be a source of external funding to the university. In fact, they should be involved in three-year projects. The outcome of the projects will be beneficial academically and financially. Some seed money should be provided by the departments to the faculty members so that PhD and MPhil students can work under them as assistants for the projects.

Do you think that there is a need to amend the PhD norms that were set long ago to make research work quality oriented?

Yes, the quality needs to be improved. At present, the research scholars are not that serious. To appreciate the outstanding research scholars, the university will have to come up with a programme to give a minimal grant to those who perform and contribute in the growth of the university.

What are the authorities doing to upgrade the infrastructure of old departments and hostels?

This is the biggest challenge which the authorities are facing due to scarcity of funds. All old departments, especially the arts blocks, need renovation. The university is not getting any funds from the Union Government for the construction work so the repair work is going on at a snail’s pace. Another challenge is the uninterrupted power supply to science labs. Replacement of electricity cables have been put on hold for want of funds. All facilities should be provided to hostellers.

How are you going to develop skills in the students of various professional courses?

Recently, the university developed an alumni house on the campus. I have asked the students of hotel management and applied management to come up with ideas as to how this venture could be made profitable. This is the initiative that I have taken to involve students in skill development. In the near future, the authorities will also ask the students to manage the hostel premises to make them more clean and hygienic. We have to make skill development an integral part of our curriculum to produce students who can generate employment for themselves with these skills.

Still a front runner, a varsity par excellence
Has produced world-class leaders

Despite reeling under financial crisis and not so good facilities on the campus, the PU has been able to hold on its own. It has been alma mater to world-class leaders like former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, and first woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi to name a few. The university has added feather to its cap as a large number of its programmes have been recognised internationally by the University Grants commission (UGC) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The programmes that the university has been able to bag are the Special Assistance Programme/Departmental Research Support (SAP/DRS), the Centre for Advanced Study (CAS), Funds for Improvement of Science and Technology (FIST) and the Department of Special Assistance.

Varsity with potential for excellence

The university has been recognised by the UGC as the University with Potential for Excellence in biomedical sciences with facilities for stem cell research and drug development. It was awarded two centres of excellence by the UGC under the scheme of the Centre with Potential for Excellence in a Particular Area (CPEPA) which are the Centre of Excellence in the application of nano materials, nano particles and nano composites and the Centre of Excellence in Cultural Fixation on Honour: A Gender Audit of Punjab and Haryana. Central AC Joshi Library is recognised as one of the six national centres for the data-information-distribution in the country.

PURSE Award

The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has selected Panjab University as one among the 14 top universities in India for further funding under the Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (DST-PURSE) Programme. Under the scheme, Panjab University receives ~34.8 crore for the development of research infrastructure, which will be utilised in the period from 2014 to 2018.

Award winners

Professor Bhupinder Singh Bhoop, University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Panjab University, was awarded the Stat-Ease QbD Performance Award-2014 on the basis of his contribution and extensive research work on the novel and nanostructured drug delivery systems using quality by design (QbD).

The work of Pratap Chandra Acharya and Amit Kumari, respectively, was published in one of the most prestigious journal, Chemical Reviews, a publication of American Chemical Society (since 1924) with an impact factor of 41.3.

Some distinguished alumni

Dr Manmohan Singh, Former Prime Minister of India
The 14th Prime Minister of India did his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1952 and 1954, respectively, and stood first throughout his academic career.

Justice Swatanter Kumar, Former Chief Justice, High Court, Mumbai
Chief Justice Kumar was the alumnus of the PU who enrolled with the Delhi Bar Council in July 1971.

Sushma Swaraj, Union Minister of External Affairs. 
Sushma Swaraj is the Minister of External Affairs, and is also an alumnus of the PU.