20th convocation at Thapar University

government, Thapar University was provided 250 acre of land, coupled with financial assistance worth Rs.30 lakh, for the establishment of the earlier Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (now Thapar University) in 1956. He said that the institution was getting uninterrupted grant-in-aid till the year 2001 from the government. “The present value of this prime 250 acre of land is around Rs.1,500 crore,” added Badal. He lamented that the quota for the students of the state, which was once 90 percent in the institutions, has been drastically tapered off to a meagre 50%, which was complete injustice to students of the state. On the apprehensions of the representatives of the university that continuing of 50% quota was resulting in poor quality of students getting admission in the institution, Badal asked them to start 10+2 classes and special coaching classes for students from Punjab to act as a nursery to attract the best talent to their institution. Thapar University, located at Patiala had in February this year announced its decision to abolish the 50 per cent quota for Punjab students. The university claimed that it had done so in accordance with University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines. It took back the decision May this year following pressure from the Punjab government.