HPU turns forty

“University,a hub of academicians,is the best place to introspect what it could not do in the past and what is required to be done in a better way in future,” said the CM as he addressed a gathering at the campus auditorium.

Earlier,Dhumal laid the foundation stones for a multi-faculty block being built at a cost of Rs 2.9 crore and the Tourism and Hotel Management Institute (Rs 5.1 crore).

Dhumal hinted at the need for the university to seriously start defining its goals for future. “Have we thought of an action plan on what the university should achieve in next 20 or 40 years? The task of making a vision document of the university should not be left to politicians,who have many other work,but intellectuals and academicians here should take the lead.”

With many private universities coming up in the state,he said,HPU should not feel threatened.

“I have high expectations from the university,as it has the best available academic environment to become a model university. Within the limited resources,it should try to create something new in academics,” the CM said.

Vice-Chancellor Professor S K Gupta thanked the government for enhancing the current year’s budget from Rs 30 crore to Rs 50 crore. “The multi-faculty block will have two big examination halls with a seating capacity of 1,600. The pace of work needs to be sped up in future,” he said.

No achievement in 40 yrs?

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal made a special mention of the failure of the university to list on the occasion its achievements made in the last 40 years. “The musical performance by students was really good,but it would have been better had the university made an effort to depict its achievements on the occasion so that those present here today could have known about the teachers and students who have excelled elsewhere,” he said. None of the university officials made any mention of the achievements of the university or its alumni during the foundation day celebrations.