Elected PU senators raise questions over appointment to key posts

Four former senators of Panjab University (PU), who have also been declared elected in the recent senate polls, have raised questions over the appointment to key posts at the university

Four former senators of Panjab University (PU), who have also been declared elected in the recent senate polls, have raised questions over the appointment to key administrative positions at the university.

In a recent letter to vice-chancellor Raj Kumar, four former senators of PU, who have also been declared elected in the recent senate polls, have raised questions over the appointment to key posts at the university. (HT File Photo/ Representational image)

In a recent letter to vice-chancellor Raj Kumar, they have said the university could not afford to run its day-to-day administration only through ad hoc/honorary appointments. Ronki Ram, Navdeep Goyal, Rajat Sandhir and Jatinder Grover in their letter said the slip in rankings was a result of no proper mechanism being followed for the appointments to key positions at the university that compromises work and affects performance.

Last month Dr Subhash Sharma, state general secretary of the BJP and former senator of PU, also wrote to PU chancellor Venkaiah Naidu and said significant posts like registrar, dean college development council, controller of examination and others were being run on an ad hoc basis.

Procedure not followed

Terming it arbitrary, they have said that the university had a culture of inviting applications/nominations to various honorary positions and the applications received were screened and the most suitable candidate was recommended by the collegium having few senior professors. “No such procedure has been followed in the last three years. The idea of the collegium was to ensure that the person has qualifications and experience for the appointment so as to do justice to the position,” states the letter to the vice-chancellor.

Principle of ‘one man, one post’ not followed

They have also raised concerns over some of the officials who are holding multiple important positions presently at the university. The letter also has a list of these positions as well. “The appointment of a single person to perform multiple responsibilities would result in compromising the work assigned to them besides denying the opportunities to other colleagues to shoulder work and gain experience,” they have said.

Moreover, they have also alleged that many persons are continuing beyond the term of three years, which is against the democratic principle of rotation being followed at PU.

They have urged the vice-chancellor to address their concerns and ensure all honorary appointments are strictly made by inviting applications.