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Punjab governor rejects Mann govt’s move to appoint Dr Wander as BFUHS V-C
Governor Banwari Lal Purohit, who is the chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), was not consulted before chief minister Bhagwant Mann announced the name of the new vice-chancellor
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In his capacity as the chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Punjab governor Banwari Lal Purohit on Tuesday rejected chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s move to appoint cardiologist Dr Gurpreet Singh Wander as the new vice-chancellor.
Instead, Purohit asked for a panel of three candidates for the selection of the vice-chancellor. The Bhagwant Mann government had given this protocol the go-by and the chief minister had taken to Twitter to announce Dr Wander’s appointment as the BFUHS V-C on September 30.
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The development comes two days after the governor took exception to Mann’s absence at the reception organised in honour of President Droupadi Murmu at Punjab Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh, saying constitutional obligations have to be met on such occasions. The row between the governor and the AAP government started after he withdrew an order summoning a special assembly session to table a confidence motion last month. The differences escalated when Purohit sought to know the legislative businesses to be taken up in the proposed September 27 session. The AAP government mentioned other businesses but went on to introduce and pass the confidence motion, while the opposition Congress walked out.
Post of BFUHS V-C vacant since July
The post of vice-chancellor had fallen vacant in July after Dr Raj Bahadur resigned in protest against his humiliation by state health minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra, who made him lie down on a dirty bed during an inspection. Since Dr Bahadur did not withdraw his resignation even after a request to continue on the post from the chief minister’s office, the government accepted his papers and started looking for a new vice-chancellor.
A senior Punjab government official confirmed that the governor has sought a panel of at least three candidates for the post by forming a select committee.
When Dr Raj Bahadur was appointed BFUHS V-C, the then Parkash Singh Badal-led SAD-BJP government had also sent three names for the post.
At present, Dr Wander is the head of the department of cardiology at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, and also the coordinator of Hero DMC Heart Institute, a unit of DMCH.
