Punjab govt scraps Khalsa varsity Act
PULLING THE PLUG Governing council terms it vendetta politics, to seek legal opinion; future of students won’t be jeopardised, says govt
CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR: The tug-ofwar between Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and the Majithia family over the Khalsa University reached a collision point with the state cabinet on Wednesday deciding to scrap the Khalsa University Act, 2016, through which the college was granted the status of a university by the previous Parkash Singh Badal government.
The Khalsa College authorities termed the move as vendetta politics and said they will seek legal opinion to “save” the educational institute.
The governing council of the university is headed by Satyajit Majithia, the father-in-law of former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal. The Majithias had upstaged former benefactors -- Amarinder, his father and grandfather, who have remained chancellors of the Khalsa College. The government said the university status was being scrapped to “save the historic 125-year-old Khalsa College from losing its heritage status by falling prey to privatisation”.
Finance minister Manpreet Badal told mediapersons that the move will not jeopardise the future of the 300 students who had already taken admission in Khalsa University. “They would either be shifted to the existing Khalsa College or accommodated in some other college on par, after taking their choice into consideration,” he said.
An official spokesperson said the cabinet termed the move by the Khalsa College Society to convert the prestigious institution into a university as “appalling”.
The cabinet also observed that there was no point in establishing an additional university in Amritsar, which already had several reputed institutions of higher learning, including the Guru Nanak Dev University.
The cabinet also noted that taking away a chunk of land from Khalsa College to make a university would adversely affect the college’s architectural grandeur.
Taking a strong exception to it, Satayjit Singh Majithia and pro-chancellor Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina in a joint statement said: “It is wrong to say that the varsity dilutes the heritage character of the building. The college is functioning as an autonomous institution and university is housed in separate buildings.
Meanwhile, the SGPC accepted resignation of Dr Gurmohan Singh Walia as the vicechancellor of Fategarh Sahibbased Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University. Walia had joined as the V-C of Khalsa varsity 11 days ago.