E-Paper
After HC intervention, PU defers faculty deans’ elections indefinitely
The elections for picking deans of 11 faculties and secretaries were to take place after two years on Saturday. However, this time, PU had decided not to include professors above the age of 60 in the list of ex-officio members of their respective faculties
Hours after Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) asked Panjab University (PU) to add faculty members above the age of 60 in the voter list for the election of faculty deans, the varsity has deferred the polls indefinitely.
The elections for picking deans of 11 faculties and secretaries were to take place after two years on Saturday. However, this time, the varsity had decided not to include professors above the age of 60 in the list of ex-officio members of their respective faculties.
As soon as word got out about the hearing before the HC, the varsity put out a notice to members of the electoral college that meetings scheduled for the election have been deferred. The notice gives no hint of when the elections are going to take place now. The term of deans was to end on January 31, 2023.
There are approximately 60 teachers, who are serving even after attaining the retirement age of 60.
The HC had acted on the plea from five faculty members -- Navdeep Goyal, Rajat Sandhir, Jatinder Grover, Keshav Malhotra and Navleen Kaur, who had challenged the varsity’s decision. University professors and director professors, among others, are ex-officio members of the faculty concerned and exercise all the rights given by the regulations. The action of the varsity is directly in conflict with the regulations and their names cannot be deleted from the voter list, it was argued.
The court, while asking the varsity to respond by March 23, had ordered that varsity would permit the faculty members, who are eligible as per regulations, to be on voters list. However, the same would be subject to the final outcome of the dispute in the court.
Besides professors and heads of departments, the electoral college for faculty deans consists of senators who have opted for the faculty and their added members. The number varies from time to time.
Added members
As per PU calendar, senators assigned to each faculty can add to their number, through the procedure laid down in the regulations, the persons residing within the territorial jurisdiction of the university who fulfil the prescribed qualifications. Two senators of the same faculty can add one member to the faculty.
The one-year term of various faculty deans had ended in January 2021 without the election of their successors — since there was no senate and syndicate in place at that time due to the pandemic. Deans play an important role in varsity’s functioning and preside over faculty meetings, where all academic work, including change in syllabus and new courses, are decided. They are also members of committees for Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) promotions and direct recruitment of teachers.
