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Punjabi University bringing down the curtains on regional centre in Mohali
Only 60 students enrolled in the centre that’s been costing the Patiala varsity ₹3.2 crore every year to run
Having catered to local students and library lovers for two decades, Punjabi University’s (Patiala) Regional Centre for IT and Management in Phase 7 here is facing closure due to the varsity’s financial crunch.
The centre had been offering a host of courses, including MBA, MBA (Executive), MTech (CSE), MCA, MCA (lateral entry), MCom, BCA+MCA, BBA, BCom, BSc (Hons) computer science, BSc (Hons) artificial intelligence & data science, and Diploma in Computing.
But while the inaugural session in September 2000 had over 600 students, currently only 60 students are enrolled at the centre, despite the varsity pumping in ₹3.2 crore annually. Authorities attribute this to students preferring other government institutes across the tricity.
Students to be shifted to other govt colleges
With the Patiala varsity already running the Government College in Phase 6 and Khalsa College in Phase 3, students have been asked to shift there. Meanwhile, 12 of the 18 faculty members have already been transferred.
Vice-chancellor Arvind said, “Nearly ₹3.2 crore are spent on the centre every year. It is not financially viable to run it with just 60 students. Their studies will not be affected, as they will be shifted within Mohali only.”
On Thursday, when a senior professor of the university came to the campus to take students’ consent, they raised slogans against the authorities.
A student, Jaskaran Singh Bhullar, said the faculty was shifted two months back and since then, students had been requesting authorities not to close the centre. “It will be difficult for us to adjust to the new environment in another college,” said Manjit Singh, another student.
