Research scholars, under the banner of the Secular Youth Federation of India (SYFI), staged protest and locked down all private canteens and cafeterias running on the Punjabi University campus in Patiala on Wednesday.
The students alleged that despite repeated pleas, the varsity authorities have failed to keep tab on unhygienic and poor quality food being served to students at these eateries.
Students added that the canteen owners have fixed exorbitant rates for their food items.
SYFI president Yadwinder Singh said that they held a meeting with dean academic affairs Prof GS Batra on Wednesday, following which a three-member team of senior officials was constituted to conduct immediate inspection of 10 canteens situated at different parts of the institution.
“The delegation of student body was accompanied by officials as well. We found that the food was being prepared and sold in unhygienic conditions and packed food items did not have any manufacturing or expiry dates on the packets,” he said.
He added that following the inspection, it was decided that these canteens and cafeterias will be shut down for now. “We demand the varsity management to collect samples of the food items from these eateries and send them for adulteration check,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}He added that following the inspection, it was decided that these canteens and cafeterias will be shut down for now. “We demand the varsity management to collect samples of the food items from these eateries and send them for adulteration check,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Manpreet Singh, a SYFI activist, said that they demanded the university to scrap tenders of these canteens. “The said canteens are running here for past 40 years as the university gave tenders on five-year agreement but failed to review the work. Even last year, the tenders were allotted without following the proper e-tendering process,” he said.
The student body also demanded the varsity to fix prices of food items so as to stop monopoly of canteen owners.
VARSITY’S MEDIA CENTRE TO HOLD WORKSHOPS ON ONLINE COURSES ACROSS REGION
The Punjabi University’s Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMRC) has planned to conduct massive online open courses (MOOCs) awareness workshops at different universities and colleges in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.
During the concluding ceremony of a seven-day workshop on MOOCs, Prof Gurmeet Singh Maan, director of the media centre, said that the varsity has been declared a nodal agency for this.
He added that a major drawback in spreading DREAM-learning (e-learning through digital and multimedia modes for remotes) is lack of awareness about MOOCs, even among teachers and research scholars.
“The UGC has already issued strict guidelines in the form of a MoU signed between Punjabi University’s EMRC, the Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC) and the University Grants Commission (UGC), making practical workshops an essential part of refresher courses, orientation courses and workshop conducted by the HRDC for in-service teachers,” he said.
He added that the Punjabi university’s media centre will conduct three-day MOOCs workshops in colleges and universities free of cost.