Prof Bhola Ram Gurjar, director of the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), Chandigarh, has been appointed the first vice-chancellor of Punjab Engineering College (PEC) for six months. Prof Gurjar’s appointment comes nearly two and a half years after the departure of former PEC director Prof Baldev Setia, whose tenure ended on June 3, 2024, after he was relieved upon attaining the age of 62. Later, the institute was headed by Rajesh Kumar Bhatia as director (ad-interim).
The institute’s leadership structure subsequently underwent a major change with the registration of a new memorandum of association (MoA) on October 9, 2025. The revised framework replaced the earlier director and board of governors model with a vice-chancellor and executive council structure, in line with the University Grants Commission (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2023.
Statutory bodies yet to be constituted
The absence of the new statutory bodies has also raised administrative questions ahead of the institute’s upcoming convocation. PEC recently forwarded a proposal for approval of degrees to Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria, who is also the institute’s chancellor, in the absence of the executive council and the academic council.
The institute’s earlier board of governors ceased to exist after the new MoA came into effect. The committee of deans and department heads recommended sending the degree-approval proposal to the chancellor to avoid delays affecting undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students.
The VC’s appointment has brought the implementation of PEC’s revised governance framework into focus, particularly the constitution of the statutory bodies responsible for its academic and administrative functioning.
{{/usCountry}}The VC’s appointment has brought the implementation of PEC’s revised governance framework into focus, particularly the constitution of the statutory bodies responsible for its academic and administrative functioning.
{{/usCountry}}The short duration of the appointment also raises questions about the next steps in the selection of a regular VC and the timeline for completing PEC’s governance transition.
About Prof Bhola Ram Gurjar
Gurjar is an academic and environmental engineering expert who also heads the NITTTR, Chandigarh, an institute functioning under the Union ministry of education and engaged in technical teacher training, curriculum development, research and consultancy.
He holds a PhD in Environmental Risk Analysis from IIT-Delhi and completed postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute in Mainz, Germany. He has also served as a professor in the department of environmental engineering at IIT-Roorkee, where his work has focused on air pollution, environmental risk assessment, urban emissions and sustainability.
His academic contributions include more than 200 publications, books and a patent, along with work on online courses relating to sustainable transportation systems and air pollution control.