Chandigarh University mix-up prompts PU to add admission alert on its website

The admission alert on PU’s website clarifies that it is a central and state governments funded university located in Chandigarh while Chandigarh University is a private varsity located 25 kilometers off at Gharuan village

To avoid confusion among students seeking admission in Panjab University, the varsity has added an admission alert on its official website to differentiate it from Chandigarh University.

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The admission alert on PU’s website clarifies that it is a central and state governments funded university located in Chandigarh while Chandigarh University is a private varsity located 25 kilometers off at Gharuan village. The alert states, “No official of Panjab University or admission cell is calling any prospective candidate for seeking admission to PU or for submitting admission fee etc.”

PU’s Dean University Instructions (DUI) Professor RK Singla said, “We were getting many queries from students. The feature has been added to bring clarity to students who are seeking admission in PU.”

On August 17, Dr Parveen Goyal of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) had also written to the vice-chancellor to issue an alert on PU’s official website regarding admissions. He said, “Many faculty members have raised the issue regarding confusion among students between these two universities. Sometimes a candidate from a different state who wants to take admission in PU lands in Chandigarh University, that is why I have requested the varsity to take this initiative.”

This move comes two years after the issue was raised during a meeting of the PU senate. In 2018, the varsity had also constituted a nine-member panel to look into the confusion among the students between PU and CU.

Panjab University senator, Professor Rajat Sandhir said, “Chandigarh University is taking advantage of the brand Panjab University has built over the years. There are several instances where students had to take admission to CU because of the confusion with the name. There seems no logic in using Chandigarh prefix before the name except for taking advantage of the PU brand. PU had also set up a committee to address this issue.”

Spokesperson of Chandigarh University Prabhdeep Singh said, “On every platform, we have clearly mentioned that we are a private University and are located in Mohali. Even the initials of Panjab University and Chandigarh University are not the same. We fail to understand how there is confusion in our names.”