PAU V-C row: ‘UGC rules not applicable to PAU; CM, Guv should solve issue amicably,’ says PAU alumni body

Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit in a letter to CM Bhagwant Mann had said that appointment of Dr Satbir Singh Gosal as PAU V-C was "illegal" as it was not done "as per UGC norms" and approval of the Chancellor (Governor is the Chancellor of PAU) was not taken.

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit with Bhagwant Mann during the latter's oath-taking ceremony. (Express Photo/File)

Amid the confrontation between Punjab Raj Bhawan and AAP government over appointment of the vice-chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, the PAU Alumni Association headed by veteran food economist Dr Sardara Singh Johl, also the former PAU V-C, in a statement issued Thursday said that UGC rules were not applicable on the agricultural varsity and that both sides should solve the issue amicably.

Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit in a letter to CM Bhagwant Mann had said that appointment of Dr Satbir Singh Gosal as PAU V-C was “illegal” as it was not done “as per UGC norms” and approval of the Chancellor (Governor is the Chancellor of PAU) was not taken. He told Mann to “immediately remove” the V-C.

However, experts related to the university say that PAU is governed by Haryana and Punjab Agricultural Universities Act, 1970, which empowers PAU’s board of management to appoint the V-C. However, if the board fails to reach a consensus on one name, then the Chancellor has to be informed and he will make the appointment.

Mann in a reply to the Governor wrote that PAU V-C has been appointed by following all norms as mentioned in the said Act.
As per the Act, PAU board of management appoints the V-C and there is no role of either CM or Governor in it, wrote Mann. He also wrote that the AAP government followed the same procedures as it was adopted for appointing PAU VCs in the past. “Dr Gosal is an eminent scientist… and your order to remove him has angered the people of Punjab,” wrote Mann to the Governor.

In a statement issued by PAU alumni association undersigned by Dr Johl, the body said: “It is unfortunate that the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of PAU came under dispute between the Governor and Punjab government….. It has hurt everyone concerned with the university, the said post was lying vacant since more than a year during which University and farming suffered a lot…”

“Now a very competent scientist, educationist and administrator has been appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of the PAU who is supported by the faculty members, staff, students, farmers… the worthy Governor has quoted that UGC rules and norms have not been followed in the process which are not applicable to this University as per the Act 1970.. The Board of Management is fully competent and empowered to appoint the V-C..,” says the statement.

“In order to avoid the said conflict, we suggest the Governor-cum-Chancellor of PAU and the CM to resolve the issue amicably so that a scientist of repute Dr SS Gosal may not suffer to be humiliated and the university does not suffer which is the lifeline of Punjab agriculture…,” says the alumni body statement, also signed by Dr Balwinder Singh Butahri, general secretary.

Divya Goyal

Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab. Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab. She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on “Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers” had won accolades at IIMC. She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012. Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab. ... Read More

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