Scholars wait in desperation as Sutton House grabs the booty

In March, the university had deposited Rs 1.25 crore with the Punjab State Electricity Board PSEB for allocating a dedicated power hotline to the university. Owing to incessant powercuts, the research work on the campus was being affected. All along this summer, powercuts began at 10 am and stretch through the evening. Some scientists had even claimed that they had lost valuable data and research samples due to powercuts.

Dr V K Sharma, estate officer-cum -chief engineer, PAU, explains, 8220;We needed a hotline as VIPs come and stay here. The CM himself frequents this place. The guest house is centrally air-conditioned. Though Sutton House has a provision for gensets, they are not powerful enough to run ACs.8221; The estate officer added, 8220;This is something we did on priority but very soon the rest of the university will also be on a power hotline. We are pursuing the case quite diligently.8221;

It has also been learnt that for the rest of the university, the procedure is slightly long. The electricity board has proposed to set up a 60 KW sub-station on the campus to carry power to the required places.

A senior faculty member of the university, on the condition of anonymity, said, 8220;There are departments such as soils, plant breeding, biotechnology and others where power is more important than the guesthouse. No doubt, VIPs come here but some other arrangements could have been made for them.8221;