Punjab government has given permission to Panjab University (PU) to set up polling booths in the state for conducting senate polls.
The Punjab government’s department of higher education in a letter to the varsity has stated that they have given approval for setting up polling booths at various colleges in the state. The polling booths of different constituencies of the PU senate are to be set up in Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Last month, the varsity had informed the office of the Vice-President of India, who is also the PU chancellor, that the process has been initiated by seeking permission from the six state governments.
In a letter to PU, the department of higher education has said that the varsity should strictly comply with the safety norms whenever the polling is held.
The senate is a 91-member apex governing body of the university. While 36 senators are nominated by the chancellor, two are from the Punjab legislative assembly, six are ex officio members and the remaining 47 are elected.
No response from other states yet
PU has not received any response from other five state governments so far for setting up polling booths for elections. After writing to them for permission, the varsity has also sent two reminders to these states.
An official of the university confirmed that the response from other states was awaited.
{{/usCountry}}An official of the university confirmed that the response from other states was awaited.
{{/usCountry}}The varsity has said that the final election schedule will be proposed after the permission from the respective states.
Conduct senate polls immediately
The Punjab government in its letter has also directed the varsity to conduct the senate polls immediately as the elections are already delayed.
Former senator Navdeep Goyal said, “It is a good development and varsity should announce the dates of senate polls soon as it is already functioning without a governing body.”
Polls delayed due to pandemic
The polls were earlier scheduled to be held in August last year, but were postponed twice by vice-chancellor Raj Kumar due to the pandemic. The last senate polls were held in 2016.
The four-year term of the previous senate had ended on October 31 last year. The term of the syndicate, PU’s executive body, also ended on December 31. Its members are elected from among the senators.