Chandigarh (Aaj Samaj)Punjab Chief Minister Agwant Singh Mann has sought the intervention of Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar to immediately conduct the Senate elections at Panjab University, Chandigarh. In a letter to the Vice President, Agwant Singh Mann said that even though the term of the current Senate ends on October 31, 2024, the Senate elections have not been announced in Panjab University, which is a very sensitive issue and emotional for the state.
He said that Punjab University was formed under the Punjab University Act, 1947 and was established to compensate the loss suffered by Punjab due to the main university remaining in Lahore after the partition of the country in 1947. •Agwant Singh Mann said that after the reorganization of the state in 1966, the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966 maintained its status, meaning that the university would continue to function as before and the areas included in present-day Punjab would come under its jurisdiction.
The Chief Minister said that since then, Panjab University, Chandigarh has been a part of the rich ethnic, cultural, literary and heritage of the state. He said that since the creation of the university, its Senate is constituted every four years and its members are elected through the democratic process. •Agwant Singh Mann said that it is surprising that Senate elections have not been held this year, while for the last six decades these elections have been regularly held in the months of August-September of the prescribed year.
The Chief Minister said that failure to hold elections to the University Senate, whose current term ends on October 31, has not only failed the stakeholders but is also a violation of good governance and the law. He said that there is immense anger among teachers, professionals, technicians, university graduates and representatives of various sectors due to the delay in the Senate elections. • Agwant Singh Mann said not holding Senate elections was against the university rules, according to which elections are mandatory every four years, and this delay had created concern among the academic and alumni sections of the university.
The Chief Minister said that the news of changing the democratic electoral process to nominations was adding fuel to the fire as such a change would degrade the democratic dignity of the university and suppress the voice of graduate voters who have always played an important role in the The governance of this institution is cleanliness. Seeking the intervention of the vice president, Agwant Singh Mann asked him to advise the administration of Panjab University and the administration of Union Territory Chandigarh to conduct the University Senate elections on time.
