Chandigarh: No consensus, meeting on further reopening of PU remains inconclusive
In a setback to the campus reopening process of PU, Chandigarh, the meeting of a university panel remained inconclusive after the panel did not reach any consensus for the further reopening of PU campus
In a setback to the campus reopening process of Panjab University (PU), the meeting of a university panel remained inconclusive after the panel did not reach any consensus for the further reopening of the campus for students on Tuesday.

According to sources, there was a difference of opinions among some members of the committee regarding the further reopening of the campus. The meeting was chaired by dean university instruction (DUI) VR Sinha and was attended by dean research SK Tomar, who is also the dean students welfare (DSW) and other university officials as well. The reopening of the campus is already delayed at the university despite PU planning to conduct upcoming exams in offline mode.
This comes two days after former senator of PU Subhash Sharma wrote to the Vice-President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu, who is also PU chancellor, seeking his intervention for the reopening of campus for all students. In his letter to Naidu, he said when the entire country is in “unlock mode”, the reopening of the campus is being delayed.
However, a member of the panel, who attended the meeting, said there were chances that all postgraduate students and undergraduate final year students would be allowed to return to campus in the next phase.
During the meeting, it was discussed that providing hostel accommodation to a large number of students would not be possible given the Covid-19 guidelines. The university had continuously announced the limited hostel accommodation for the PG final year students who have been allowed to return to campus.
Both VR Sinha and SK Tomar could not be reached for their comments.
Meanwhile, the university is yet to finalise the mode of the upcoming semester examination, which is scheduled to start in December.
Student Centre gears up for reopening
The shops at the iconic Student Centre of Panjab University (PU) are set to reopen from December 1. The formal announcement of the reopening of the shops at the Student Centre was also issued on Tuesday. The canteens in the teaching departments (both in Sectors 14 and 25) have also been allowed to reopen. However, they have been asked to follow all the Covid-19 protocols.
ABOUT THE AUTHORDar OvaisDar Ovais is the Dharamshala-based correspondent in the Himachal Pradesh bureau of Hindustan Times. He covers politics, tourism, Tibetan affairs and environmental issues.

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