HoDs: PU fails to uniformly implement policy

Panjab University has failed to uniformly implement the policy of rotation of headship in its departments, institutes and centres, especially those started in recent years, in violation of rules and regulations.

Panjab University has failed to uniformly implement the policy of rotation of headship in its departments, institutes and centres, especially those started in recent years, in violation of rules and regulations.

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University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS), Dental College and University Institute of Applied Management Sciences (UIAMS), Centre for Social Work and Centre for Human Rights are not following the policy of rotation of headship.

Heads of all such departments have been appointed by the vice chancellor for a fixed term with no provision of rotation.

According to the norms laid in the university calendar, each teaching department shall have a chairman/head to be designated by the senate on the recommendations of the syndicate from amongst professors, readers and lectures in the said department, appointed through direct recruitment or promotion or by any other method approved by the senate.

A person designated as chairman/head of the department shall hold office for three years and shall not be eligible for designation for the second time till all professors, readers, lecturers in the department get an opportunity of becoming the head.

The directors are also being accused of autocratic leadership. "The heads with fixed terms behave like bureaucrats and their style of functioning is not at all transparent," alleged a faculty member.

When contacted, dean university instruction (DUI) Bhupinder Singh Brar said that there are different nomenclatures -- school, department, center and institute - in the university and there is no clarity on the applicability of rules in the calendar.

However, he maintained that when the rule for rotation is applicable in departments, then there is no reason why it cannot be enforced on centres and institutes.

The issue was taken up in the recently held Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA) executive meeting, in which the house resolved that the rotation of heads should be implemented uniformly to maintain the democratic spirit of the university.

PUTA secretary Mohammed Khalid said that irrespective of nomenclatures, the principal of rotation of head should be implemented uniformly, else it is a violation of norms. The PUTA has also written a letter to the vice chancellor in this regard.