Students and faculty at Punjab Agricultural University have slammed the move to ban Internet and wi-fi services in the varsity from 9 am to 11 am. As per the latest orders from Vice-Chancellor B S Dhillon, the students and faculty of PAU cannot log on to PAU Information Superhighway. Also, the wi-fi services have been disabled for two hours. Sources in the vice-chancellor’s office said that the step had been taken to ensure that professors did not stick to their chair in the morning and moved out to the fields. [related-post] “The step is basically not for the students who anyway remain busy in classes during morning hours but it has been taken for professors and other faculty members. They come to office at 9 am and keep using Internet. The field visits which are of utmost importance in an agricultural university are getting reduced and professors shy away from practical work. So V-C ordered IT department to block Internet and wi-fi for morning hours,” said a source. When earlier the students and faculty were not able to log in with their passwords, it was assumed that there might be some technical snag but after 11 am the Internet started running. However, now a formal message on the PAU login screen has been displayed and it clearly states, “You are not allowed to login at 9 am to 11 am (sic).” The step, however, has been criticised by both professors and students as the social networking sites and other entertainment sites are already blocked in the varsity. “What is the purpose of banning sites like Gmail, Yahoo Mail etc in morning as Facebook, Twitter etc are already banned? Even if someone accesses Internet in morning hours, it is only for checking mails, replying to important ones and fixing up meetings. It is completely illogical,” said a professor on condition of anonymity. The students said that now they were unable to complete their assignments in morning hours. “Those who want to misuse Internet will do so before 9 am and after 11 am. There are various courses in which students get free lectures in morning hours and do their assignments. Already, social networking sites are banned under PAU wi-fi so blocking mailing sites is simply illogical,” said a BSc agriculture student. While V-C Dhillon did not reply to calls or messages, Karanvir Sandhu, a student representative from PAU Students’ Association, said, “Students will be benefited if the ban is lifted from Internet in morning hours as we are not able to use social networking sites anyway. Those who use Internet will do it for work only.”
