PU alumni revisit old days at third global meet

On the first day of the two-day meet, chief guest Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Vice President of India and PU Chancellor visited the campus. Banwarilal Purohit, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, Som Parkash, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Punjab Education Minister, visited the campus as well.

Dhankhar in his address said, “Alumni are the roots of an institution. They can give directions that can inspire faculty and students and generate an ecosystem where the present generation of students get motivated to engage in research and innovation.”

Dhankhar added,”I want to share my concern as PU Chancellor that we have to explore our potential. We have to make a big difference, the present state of affairs need to be revisited not because of any fault but there has to be generational change. PU has to live upto its reputation, it has to be a role model. Therefore, I appeal the alumni to spare some time to email me and I will give focused attention to every email and generate a platform for interaction.”

Past memories and learnings from the university were also remembered by its alumni. Sunny Guglani graduated from UIET in 2006 and presently heads Airbus helicopters for Indian and South Asia region. Guglani said, “I learned self-confidence from PU as I was the departmental representative in the students council.” Another alumni Dr Ashwani Kumar, Director, ICMR-Vector Control Research and who graduated from the zoology department talked about how PU helped him groom himself by imparting various skills.

One of the oldest PU alumni members was Sardar Narender Singh Swaraj, 97, who graduated LLB from the Government Law College, Lahore, that was affiliated to PU at the time.

Talking to Indian Express, a couple Col DP Gupta, 67 and Dr Rama Gupta, 63, an author and retired principal, shared their views about how PU provided them various platforms to enhance their skills. Neelam Dhamija, retired from MCM DAV College for Women, told us about how she managed to pursue her masters from PU campus even after being married and having a child. Another alumni, Dr Indu Luthra, 86, retired from MCM DAV College for Women and a Rotarian, talked about how the university imparted her values to work for social causes and is consistently engaged in it after her retirement.

Visually-impaired students march to meet Dhankhar, blocked by police

A group of visually-impaired students of Panjab University were stopped by the police on Friday when they tried to march towards gate number 1 of the university during the visit of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

The students, who have been protesting for a host of demands since October 14, were blocked by a large posse of policemen who had been deployed in the area as part of the vice president’s security.

This led to heated arguments between the protesters and the security personnel deployed in the area, with the students later alleging that the police used force to stop them from moving forward.

A few protesters also alleged that the police personnel misbehaved with them. The students said that they decided to hold the march to try and meet the Vice President after a meeting with the Dean of Students’ Welfare of the university earlier in the day failed to bear any results.

The students have been protesting for a host of issues, including assured hostel accommodations, accessible reading material, and fee concession, among other things. They have so far also submitted a memorandum with their demands to Panjab University vice chancellor’s office.