Prof Arvind is new Punjabi University vice-chancellor

Indian Institute of Science and Research, Mohali, dean, research and development, professor Arvind, was on Tuesday appointed the new vice-chancellor of Punjabi University for three years.

The post of a regular vice-chancellor has been vacant for the past six months since BS Ghuman resigned in November.

The Punjab government appointed senior bureaucrat Ravneet Kaur as the officiating vice-chancellor.

Arvind, who was awarded the doctorate from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in 1997, takes over the reins of the university when the institution is going through turbulent times both financially and administratively.

“I look forward to working positively in rebuilding and reshaping Punjabi University in the right direction,” he said, adding that the best possible methods will be rolled out to make it a centre of excellence of the region.

Following his PhD, Arvind joined the faculty of physics at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, for two years before heading for the department of physics at Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, in 2005. He joined IISER, Mohali, in 2007.

The cash-strapped Punjabi University recently passed a ₹129-crore deficit budget for the 2021-22 financial year. There has been a major cut in expenditure with budgetary proposals putting it at ₹472 crore, a cut of almost 30% over last fiscal’s ₹676 crore. The university’s income, however, is also projected to fall to ₹342 crore, a reduction of 10% over last year’s ₹380 crore.