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Mohanty demands accountability from Panjab University teachers
Mohanty, appointed to the Sri Aurobindo Chair of Panjab University in December 2023 for a term of one year, interacted with media during a session on Monday
Sachidananda Mohanty, who has been recently appointed to the Sri Aurobindo Chair of Panjab University, demanded more accountability from teachers and insisted that they develop a reading culture, during a media interaction held at Golden Jubilee Hall in PU on Monday.
During the interaction, Mohanty said, “It is my suggestion to the varsity that a reading culture must be developed in the university. Rather than just ticking off students for not reading enough, teachers should develop such a culture.”
Mohanty reflected on his time when he started as a professor and how earlier salaries were low and how they have greatly increased now. “Teachers must be held accountable and should justify why they are paid so much, ” he said and added that a culture for peer reviewed publications must be encouraged in the varsity.
While thanking the PU vice-chancellor Renu Vig for appointing him on the Sri Aurobindo chair and for instituting such a chair in the first place, he said that everyone can benefit from Aurobindo’s teachings. He called him a renaissance personality, and said he was someone who was first inspired by the philosophy of the West but then re-discovered Indian philosophy and text.
He said that we shouldn’t discredit Indian thinkers in favour of those from the West and said he doesn’t believe in the hierarchy of knowledge. He campaigned for nationalism, but not in a narrow sense, and said nationalism should follow with an internationalism as well. He also spoke about multiculturalism and its integration in the National Education Policy.
PU V-C Renu Vig said that as for anyone appointed to a chair in PU, Mohanty will hold interactions with masters’ and PhD students and organise various conferences in the varsity. Vig also added that it is upto the teachers to create a conducive learning environment for the students.
Currently, Mohanty is in PU since February 15 and for the next two weeks will hold various interactions with students on topics ranging from history of globalisation and relevance of Sri Aurobindo to research ethics and management education.
Mohanty was appointed to the Sri Aurobindo Chair of PU in December 2023 for a term of one year and is the former vice-chancellor of Central University of Odisha.
PU yet to receive ₹1 crore under PMS scheme
Panjab University is yet to receive around ₹1 crore from students enrolled under Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) scheme for students of 2022-23 session, the V-C said on the sidelines of the event. The amount has been allegedly dispatched by the Punjab government to the beneficiary students under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme but is yet to be deposited with PU, as per officials.
For the 2022-23 session, there are around 1,500 candidates who are claiming the scholarship. PU has a total claim of around ₹4.5 crore out of which PU has received around ₹3.5 crore and ₹1 crore amount is still pending.
Vig added that she had constituted a committee to look into the matter after a circular, issued last year, to charge course fee and examination fee from PMS students of 2024-25 session was withdrawn. The committee is yet to hold its first meeting.
