As top posts remain vacant,professors juggle additional duties at GNDU

* The post of Controller of Examinations has been held by different professors,on an ad hoc basis,since it fell vacant three years ago. At present,Dr R K Bedi,former head of the department of physics,has the “additional charge”.

* Ever since Varinder Sharma was unceremoniously removed from the post of Finance Development Officer (FDO) by former Vice-Chancellor Jai Rup Singh,the post has not been filled; Dr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon,a professor from the university’s Punjab School of Economics,has the additional charge at present.

* R P Sobti retired over a year ago as Director (Public Relations),but the post is still vacant. Dr Parminder Singh from the department of English is heading the PR department along with his primary duties. In the absence of a permanent boss,the work in the PR department has suffered severely due to infighting among officials,sources said.

* The post of Director (Academic Staff College) is held by a professor from the Punjabi department,Dr H S Bhatia. In a similar case,the post of Dean (colleges) is with Dr H S Hundal,a professor in the chemistry department.

* The IAS and Allied Services Coaching Centre is headless too. The charge is with Dr Paramjit Singh Sidhu,a professor from the Punjabi department. The post of Director (Distance Education) was held by economics department’s Dr SK Verma for a long time before the present incumbent,Professor Gurupdesh Singh of the English department,took over.

* The post of Director (Press and Publications) is with Dr Balwant Singh Dhillon,a professor in the department of Guru Nanak studies. The post of Director of Adult and Continuing Education is held by Professor Rajinder Puar from the Law department.

* The university’s placement cell is without a permanent in-charge ever since Dr Rajneesh Arora left GNDU to join as vice-chancellor of Punjab Technical University,Jalandhar. At present,the post is being held,as additional charge,by Dr Sukhdev Singh,a professor in the department of Biology.

* The GNDU Heritage Centre,too,has a vacancy right at the top. This post is also being held by biology professor Dr Sukhdev Singh.

Interestingly,most of the professors who have additional charges,are also office-bearers of the GNDU Teachers’ Association.

Former V-C H S Soch said with professors being given these additional duties,teaching is bound to suffer. “Permanent staff should be hired for these posts. Temporary arrangements have a negative impact on the performance of the department concerned,” he added.

Inderbir Singh,a PhD scholar from the university,said,” Such temporary arrangements send out a wrong message that competent people are not ready to work for GNDU.”

While V-C B S Brar refused to comment on the issue,sources in his office,however,said the matter related to filling the posts has been taken up with him by different people on several occasions. “The work is not suffering much,so the decision has been delayed. The new V-C (Brar) has taken charge only recently,and the posts will be filled soon,” said an official.