Punjabi University's students block Patiala-Chandigarh road; protest varsity’s poor fiscal health

Ravneet Singh
Tribune News Service
Patiala, March 4

Students of Punjabi University blocked the Patiala-Chandigarh highway and shut the university’s main gates as a mark of protest against the state government and the university administration over the varsity’s deteriorated fiscal health on Thursday afternoon.

The students held a protest march from outside the University campus to the phase-3 light point and held a sit-in for over an hour. The students were also joined by women farmers from the area.

Led by Punjab Radical Student Union (PRSU), the students raised slogans against the state government demanding financial grants for the University.

Sandeep Kaur, a student union leader said, “The University that is instrumental in educating students from the region is facing a huge financial slump. The state government should provide a special grant to pull it out of the slump.”

As a result of the protest, the traffic on the national highway was put to a complete halt. The students started the protest on the campus gates at 11 AM and vacated the Urban estate light-point after over an hour and a half.

A resident of Nabha who got stuck in the traffic said, “I was on my way to Punjabi University for some work but got stuck in traffic for over half-an-hour as the road was completely blocked.”

Farmer flags, slogans over farm laws appear

The students also carried flags of farmer unions and raised concerns against three contentious farm-laws during the protest. Sandeep Kaur said they were joined by residents of Urban Estate and women farmers associated with the Krantikari Kisan Union from village Daun Kalan among others. The students said that the central government’s policies were detrimental for the society and the farmers and demanded that they also be repealed.