3 yrs on, no roadmap for skill university at Chamkaur Sahib

Announcement was made by the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in 2017 budget; in 2018, it decided to set up a constituent college of IKG-PTU, to be converted into varsity later

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government’s move to set up a skill university at Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar district has proved to be a mere announcement with no roadmap ready for the university almost three years after the declaration in this regard.

The announcement regarding the skill university was made by Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in its first budget presented in 2017, but the project is in limbo till date.

With no funds to set up the university, the state government tweaked its announcement and declared in 2018 that it will set up a ‘state-of-the-art’ constituent college of Inder Kumar Gujral Punjab Technical University (IKG-PTU), which would be later converted into a skill university.

The land for the college was acquired by spending Rs 19 crore from IKG-PTU’S kitty. So far, only the work on the boundary wall of the land has started.

An IKG-PTU official said, “Leave aside the roadmap for the constituent college, it is not clear till date if the funds for the institute will come from the IKG-PTU or the state government.”

He added, “Why should IKGPTU spend its money for the institute which will be converted into a university?”

For the skill university, the government had announced to acquire nearly 100 acres of land, but for the institute, around 42 acres were acquired. The institute has been named as Guru Gobind Singh Skill Institute.

A senior official of the technical education department told HT that there is no such proposal on paper that the institute will be converted into a skill university at a later stage.

When contacted, technical education minister Charanjit Singh Channi said the government is planning to bring a legislation regarding converting the constituent college into university in the next budget session.

“We have hired a consultant from IIT Ropar to design the college in a way that it can later be converted into a university. After the boundary wall is completed, the work on building for the main campus is likely to start,” he added.

Former Anandpur Sahib MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, who has been cornering Channi over the issue, said, “I doubt if the constituent college will see the light of the day in the coming two years,” he added.

It is not even clear to date if the funds for the institute will come from the IKG-PTU or the state government. We need action on the project.

AN IKG-PTU OFFICIAL

The government is planning to bring a legislation regarding converting the constituent college into a university in the next budget session.

CS CHANNI, technical edu minister

LONDON: Sulakhan Singh, who was last week convicted of murdering his colleague Sukhwinder Singh, has been jailed by the Leicester Crown Court for life.

Sulakhan Singh, 39, stabbed Sukhwinder Singh to death on July 2 following an argument while they were carrying out refurbishment in a property in Leicester. Singh was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve a minimum of 22 years before he is eligible for parole. He was also given a three year and six months prison sentence for the bladed article offence which will run concurrently, the Leicestershire police said.

Detective chief inspector Tony Yarwood from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit major crime team, said: “Sulakhan Singh must now face up to the consequences of his actions.”

“Although no period of imprisonment will bring Sukhwinder back, I hope his family feel a sense of justice that he has been found guilty of murder and is now serving a life sentence.”