Anu Chatrath, Dalip Kumar elected as members of Panjab University Board of Finance

During the meeting of the Senate on Saturday, 41 items were listed for consideration and almost all were unanimously approved.

Implementation of the NCTE Regulations – 2014 were approved by the House, as it also approved the recommendations for the selection of the Director and Associate Director for the university’s Research Promotion Cell.

The Senate also approved a budget of Rs 1,20,00,000 for the Senate elections, which are scheduled to be held in September 2016. On the floor of the House, Vice-Chancellor Arun Kumar Grover also stated, “So far, no changes have been made to the procedure for conducting the Senate elections. Elections will be held in the exact same way they were held last time.” The statement was issued by the V-C after a few members of the Senate raised a concern regarding the elimination of the graduate constituency during the Senate elections of 2016.

Deliberating upon the steps to be initiated to amend the Pension Regulations relating to widow/family pension appearing in the PU Calendar, the VC stated that serious concerns had been raised by the MHRD, and the university needed to address issues in the PU Pension Scheme before the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission.

Expressing his concern over the financial instability of the university, the Vice-Chancellor also urged the members of the House to contribute their time and resources to the university’s think tank for its financial well-being. “As soon as the current session of Parliament ends, the stakeholders of the university need to get together and discuss the financial situation. The MHRD has also said that officials from the Punjab government must be involved in the issue,” Professor Grover informed the Senate.

Discussing the issue of sanction of prosecution of Naresh Sabharwal, Superintendent of the PU Pension Cell who was allegedly involved in the PU Pension Cell scam, PU Registrar Col (Retd) G S Chadha said, “The case is of criminal nature, and our permission need not be sought by the police to proceed with their investigation and consequent course of action.”

OTHER APPROVED ITEMS

n Approval of recommendation of honorary degrees of Doctor of Sciences to Founder & Chairman HCL, Shiv Nadar, PU alumnus and Professor Emeritus Professor Harkishan Singh.

n Approval of recommendation of honorary degree of Doctor of Literature to PU alumnus and Somali novelist Dr Nuruddin Farah. The honorary degrees are likely to be bestowed by PU in its next convocation.

n Approval for recommendation of chairman ITC YC Daveshwar for the ‘Panjab University Udyog Rattan’ and former GNDU Vice-Chancellor Jagtar Singh Grewal for the ‘Panjab University Gian Rattan’ for the year 2015-16.

n ‘Panjab University Khel Ratna’ and ‘Panjab University Kala Ratna’ awards to be given in the field of sports and performing and visual arts. The awards will be conferred on deserving candidate every alternate year.

n PU alumnus and legendary hockey player Balbir Singh Senior was approved as the first recipient of the ‘Panjab University Khel Ratna’ award.