Mann opposes move to change PU’s status
Chief minister says the varsity is a symbol of Punjab’s legacy and is synonymous with the name of the state
CHANDIGARH : Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday sought the intervention of Union home minister Amit Shah and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to prevent any change in the nature and character of Panjab University (PU) in Chandigarh.
“The state government vehemently opposes any such move of the Government of India to examine the feasibility of converting Panjab University into a central university,” wrote the CM in a letter to Shah and Pradhan.
The CM apprised both the leaders that the state government will not like any change in the nature and character of the University citing emotional attachment of Punjabis on account of historical, cultural and provincial reasons.
He said some vested interests are trying to push for a change in the status of the university into a central university. At the time of the reorganisation of Punjab in 1966, Panjab University was declared as an “Inter State Body Corporate” under Section 72(1) of the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966, enacted by the Parliament, he said.
Mann added this status was duly confirmed in the judgments of the courts passed from time to time. The university was shifted from Lahore during Partition the then capital of Punjab, to Hoshiarpur and finally to Chandigarh the present capital of Punjab, he said, adding that at present, 175 colleges of Punjab in districts of Fazilka, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Moga, Muktsar and Nawanshahr are affiliated with the Panjab University.
The entire territorial jurisdiction of the Panjab University lies primarily in Punjab and Union Territory of Chandigarh, Mann said, adding that as per the Reorganization Act, the maintenance deficit grants to the university were to be shared and paid by the states concerned, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and UT administration of Chandigarh, in the ratio of 20:20:20:40. But, the CM said, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh decided to withdraw from this sharing arrangement and the Haryana government also withdrew the affiliation of its colleges from the Panjab University.
From 1976 onwards, Punjab and UT administration of Chandigarh have borne the financial responsibility of paying maintenance deficit grants to the university in the ratio of 40:60, he said.
Mann added that Punjab is giving a grant-in-aid of ₹42 crore to the university annually, besides the nearly ₹100 crore annually collected by the university from the affiliated colleges located in Punjab.