PU senate approves recruitment roster for associate professors

Panjab University (PU) senate on Tuesday approved the draft roster prepared by the varsity for the direct recruitment of associate professors, paving the way for initiation of recruitment process.

The implementation of the reservation roster was pending for many years. The draft roster had been recommended by a varsity panel, constituted by the vice-chancellor (V-C) Raj Kumar, in April. Many senators appreciated PU’s efforts to implement the roster.

As per the draft roster approved by the committee, 15% reservation will be for scheduled castes (SC), followed by 7.5% for scheduled tribes (ST) and 4% for persons with disabilities (PWD) in the associate professor cadre, which has around 290 total posts.

The recruitment roster for assistant professors has already been approved by the senate. The varsity has been reeling under acute faculty crunch for years now and no fresh recruitment of teachers has taken place in the recent past due to various reasons. However, PU now plans to go for the need-based recruitment of teachers.

UIAMS, UIHTM to run Phd independently

In another decision, the recommendation of a panel to allow University Institute of Applied Management Sciences (UIAMS) independently run the PhD courses in the applied management and Sectoral domains from the session 2022-23 was approved. The senate also gave a nod to University Institute of Hotel and Tourism Management (UIHTM) to run PhD courses independently.

Designating Dharna site raised in senate

Many senators also raised the issue of PU designating a dharna site for all the stakeholders of the University. While several senators opposed the move, it did find support from some members.

Those who opposed the move included representatives of teaching and non-teaching staff of the varsity.

PU had in April this year issued a circular designating a single protest site on campus, thus prohibiting the students, teachers and non-teaching staff from protesting any other place, including outside V-C office, at the campus.

Speaking about the same, Panjab University Staff (non-teaching) Association (PUSA) president Honey Thakur said, “We oppose such a circular. The authorities cannot suppress the employees of the University by issuing such circulars.”

BOX: Seats in MA Sanskrit decreased

In another major decision, the senate approved the recommendation of a committee to decrease the number of seats in MA Sanskrit course from 68 to 40. The matter was debated at length during the meeting.

Opposing the varsity’s move, senator and former Chandigarh mayor Davesh Moudgil condemned the decrease in the number of seats in the course on social media. He said the university should have relaxed the admission conditions in the course to increase the number of students instead, adding, “Vedic language is being abolished in PU by citing the conditions of NAAC, which is condemnable.”