Chandigarh: Student parties blast Panjab University campus council for twin concert chaos
Four student bodies unite to protest mismanagement during two events, they also allege fund misappropriation
Student organisations at Panjab University (PU) on Wednesday lashed out at university authorities and the Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) over back-to-back cancellation of star performances at two recent concerts. Accusing the administration of poor planning, financial mismanagement, and a lack of transparency, they claimed that the chaos surrounding the events on the PU campus has disrupted the academic atmosphere of the university.
The outrage stems from two consecutive star performance cancellations, including the highly anticipated concert of Punjabi singer Gurdas Maan. The event was cancelled on Tuesday night due to the organisers’ failure to secure a no objection certificate (NOC) from the police.
The Chandigarh Police denied permission for the concert, citing security concerns over the limited space and the massive crowd expected near the University Business School.
Similarly, on March 21, singer Arjan Dhillon’s concert turned into a logistical nightmare as over 15,000 people flooded the university, far exceeding the planned capacity of 5,000. The lack of preparation led to overcrowding, broken barricades, traffic snarls, and a complete breakdown of crowd control.
Parties including the Panjab University Students Union (PUSU), Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU), Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) and Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) have formed a joint action committee to protest over the issues.
Interestingly, a faction of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) has also joined the protest, despite the PUCSC vice-president being from their party.
On Wednesday morning, PUSU staged a protest at the Dean Student Welfare (DSW) office. Though they had announced plans to lock the student council’s office, campus security and police prevented them from proceeding beyond the first floor.
Instead, the students sat outside the DSW office chanting slogans against the DSW, the PU chief of security, and the students’ council.
DSW prof Amit Chauhan said, “After Friday’s concert, we had asked the organisers to get a NOC from the police citing security concerns. They were informed that the concert will be allowed only with this clearance. This will apply to any other such events which are planned for this period.”
Prince Chaudhary, CYSS president and former PUCSC presidential candidate, voiced concerns over potential financial irregularities. “We are concerned about the alleged misappropriation of funds in organising the student fests. Despite receiving significant funds from PU, the star nights were cancelled in a controversial manner,” he said. After PUSU’s protest, a meeting was later held with associate DSW professor Naresh Kumar, who assured the students that a report would be prepared to ensure transparency in fund allocation for student events.
PUSU president Bhupinder Singh criticised the administration for its repeated failure to address student concerns. “Despite repeated concerns after the Holi party, no one addressed the reported incidents of sexual harassment that took place there, and the same mess was repeated in the student fests. In earlier years, the fests used to be more academic and informative, but now they have turned into such mismanaged displays, putting the students of the varsity at risk,” he said.
PUCSC president Anurag Dalal defended the student council, saying, “There is no written rule regarding getting an NOC from police for holding student fests. We don’t blame the DSW as he had tried to get permission for Tuesday’s concert in time. The two events were cancelled because of the PU authorities, especially the chief of university security. It is not the student council’s job to provide security for campus events that they organise in the campus.”
Organiser of the Gurdas Maan concert and PUCSC vice-president Archit Garg is sitting on an indefinite strike with seven other student organisers at Student Centre below the DSW office.
Garg said that he personally had to spend over ₹20 lakh from his pocket which will now go to waste as the NOC wasn’t given in time, further alleging this was the DSW’s fault. He said that he will stay on protest till the DSW was removed from his post or resigned.
