Friday, January 3, 2020

New appointments: Punjabi varsity draws flak from PUTA 

What is the point of giving additional charges of the important departments to the same people when there is availability of others, ask senior professors chandigarh Updated: Jan 02, 2020 06:19 IST

Navrajdeep Singh

 
Vice-chancellor Prof BS Ghuman said the additional appointments have been made on a temporary basis.(HT FILE)

The Punjabi University has made fresh appointments on top posts of the varsity administration by following the age old trend of giving additional charges to senior professors who are already holding additional charges.

The move draws flak from the Punjabi University Teachers’ Union (PUTA) and senior professors, who claimed that the varsity management is following the trend of centralisation of powers within a few people.

As per the fresh appointment, Dr GS Batra, who is holding charge of dean (academic affairs), has been given additional charge of dean (research).

Likewise, Prof Yograj, head of the Punjabi language development department, has been given additional charge of dean director (planning and monitoring). He is already appointed as the additional dean (college development council) and is holding the post of co-ordinator of University Grants Commission’s Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC). Prof Satnam Singh Sandhu has been given the charge of dean (languages).

Kesar Singh Bhangoo, a senior professor from the economics department, said instead of decentralising power, the university is hell-bent on ensuring that it rests with just a handful of people.

“What is the point of giving additional charges of important departments to the same people when there is availability of other senior professors,” Bhangoo said.

He added that instead of changing the pattern that was started a decade back, the university management is following the stereotypes and favouring the favourites.

“The appointments have been made in anticipation of approval from the Syndicate body, which again is illegal,” he added.

PUTA president Jaswinder Singh Brar said that filling of post of dean academic affairs on the basis of additional charge is patently illegal as the decisions taken by him will not be tenable in the court of law.

He added that giving multiple charges to selected few individuals is a wrong practice. “Concentration of power in a few hands is responsible for academic, administrative and financial problems of the university,” he claimed.

Brar added that PUTA requests the chancellor to immediately intervene in the matter so that the rule of law can be upheld.

Meanwhile, vice-chancellor Prof BS Ghuman said that the additional appointments have been made on a temporary basis.

“We will make full-fledged appointments of senior professors in the posts that are presently filled on additional charges basis. Moreover, we have ensured that important departments such as research and planning and monitoring get full-fledged in-charges,” Prof Ghuman said.

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