Old letters of PAU's second V-C cry for visitors, attention

Not many in the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), especially the students, know about the old correspondence of the university's second vice-chancellor MS Randhawa, which has been stored at the university library since its inception in 1972, thanks to nonchalance of the university authorities.

Randhawa, who is known for his huge contribution to the university, played a vital role in introducing the library in the university and hence the library was named after him as Dr Mohinder Singh Randhawa Library.

But, though several of his correspondences, including personal letters, job letters, wedding cards and self-written notes, are stacked in the prestigious hall of fame located at the ground floor of the library, they don't get many readers.

There are more than 70 reference books of different sizes, which are a storehouse of Randhawa's correspondence papers, which even date back to the sixties and early seventies.

These letters speak volumes about the rich writing styles and various formats but sadly there are hardly any visitors to take note of them, said a source in the university, who went on to add, "These books have no takers because university authorities concerned have made no efforts to make this correspondence popular among students. Secondly, there are no efforts made to digitalise the precious records."

"It was one of Randhawa's fine virtues to keep a record of all his correspondence; be it formal or informal with an aim to share the communication methods with the students to come in the university. That is why he introduced the hall of fame in the library, which not only has his rich correspondence but also the portraits of professors and scientists who made huge contribution to the research and academics in the university," library head Jarnail Singh said.

A visit to the hall of fame revealed that although the hall has been well maintained by the library staff, the correspondence by Randhawa needs to be digitalised, as old papers are getting worn out.

HT also interacted with students to know if they knew about the old correspondence, but not a single student had any idea, which underlined that no efforts were being made by the university to make it popular.

Despite repeated attempts PAU vice-chancellor BS Dhillon could not be contacted, while library authorities decided to keep mum on any plans of making the correspondence digital or popular among students.