More than 600 varsity teachers will vote on Thursday to elect the office bearers of Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA).
With two rival teams – Naresh-Neeraj team and Supinder-Naura team – fielding candidates against each other, the election is set to witness a two-cornered contest. The polling for the election will be held from 8.30 am to 2.00 pm on Thursday at the law auditorium, followed by the counting of votes and declaration of results.
Supinder Kaur of the department of laws, the current body vice-president, and Naresh Kumar of University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) are in fray for the post of president. The teachers will also elect the vice-president, secretary, joint secretary and treasurer besides the PUTA executive.
While Suman Sumi, who is assistant librarian at the AC Joshi library, will contest against Vandana Arora for the post of vice-president, Amarjit Singh Naura of biochemistry department and Neeraj Kumar Singh deputy librarian will compete for the post of secretary.
Avneet Saini and Sarvnarinder Kaur from the biophysics department, meanwhile, are eyeing the post of joint secretary. Lastly, Vijayta Chadha from the nuclear medicine department will contest for treasurer’s post, taking on Vishal Sharma of forensic sciences department.
The team for which Supinder Kaur is the presidential candidate has won the election of PU teachers’ body for the last five years in a row. Former PUTA president Rajesh Gill won the election in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and current president Mritunjay Kumar registered wins in the last two years.
{{/usCountry}}The team for which Supinder Kaur is the presidential candidate has won the election of PU teachers’ body for the last five years in a row. Former PUTA president Rajesh Gill won the election in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and current president Mritunjay Kumar registered wins in the last two years.
{{/usCountry}}Both the team have promised to work for the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for all the teachers and push for the immediate revision of salaries under the UGC’s seventh pay scales:
Promises by Supinder-Naura team
Formation of a resident welfare association (RWA) for residents of varsity campus.
A zero-tolerance towards corruption and malpractices at all levels
Right to protest and free speech
Clearance of all pending cases of promotion under Career Advancement Scheme
Restoration of the MSc nuclear medicine course
Inclusion of teachers over 60 years of age in the committees of the departments and the university
Promises by Naresh-Neeraj team
To push for the cashless medical facility
Senate and governance reforms
Timely and transparent house allotment
Clearance of cases under ‘counting of past service
Recruitment of more teachers to deal with heavy teaching load
More flexibility in spending of funds allotted under the budget head “improvement of education” for faculty members