Any change in Panjab University character not be tolerated: Punjab CM
Darpan News Desk IANS, 01 Jun, 2023 10:23 AM
Chandigarh, June 1 (IANS) Reiterating the firm commitment of the state government to avert any change in the nature and character of Panjab University in Chandigarh, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said the university is heritage of the state and any sort of change in it will not be tolerated.
The Chief Minister, who participated in a meeting with the Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh Banwari Lal Purohit and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar here, said the Punjab government is committed to safeguard the rights of the state and its people.
Mann, who firmly placed on record the facts pertaining to the university, said this premier educational institute has an emotional place in the hearts of the people of Punjab on account of historical, cultural and provincial reasons.
He said Panjab University is a symbol of Punjab's legacy and is synonymous with the name of the state.
The Chief Minister said the university caters only to Punjab and its capital Chandigarh. Citing the history of the university, its constitution, its ethnic, socio-cultural and historical roots as well as its faculty and students who hail primarily from Punjab.
Mann said it is important that the present legal and administrative status of Panjab University should be preserved. He reminded that at the time of the reorganization of the state of Punjab in 1966, Panjab University was declared as an 'Inter State Body Corporate' under section 72(1) of the Punjab Reorganization Act of 1966 enacted by the Parliament.
The Chief Minister said ever since its inception, Panjab University has been continuously and uninterruptedly functioning in Punjab. Mann recalled that it was shifted from Lahore, the then capital of Punjab, to Hoshiarpur and then to Chandigarh the present capital of Punjab.
He said at present 175 colleges of Punjab situated in the districts of Fazilka, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Moga, Muktsar Sahib and S.B.S Nagar are affiliated with Panjab University.
Mann, 48, divorced his first wife Inderpreet Kaur in 2015. He has two children from that marriage -- daughter Seerat Kaur Mann (21) and son Dilshan Singh Mann (17), who attended Mann's swearing-in ceremony on March 16. The Chief Minister made a surprise wedding announcement a day earlier. It is believed to be an arranged marriage.
Arora, who has been elected for the second consecutive time as the MLA from Sunam, expressed gratitude towards the party national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and assured that he would discharge the responsibility assigned to him with honesty and dedication.
The motive behind the murder was not yet clear, according to the police. Police said, the man went to a local market for shopping along with his family. He was shot dead when he was on his way back home.
In his previous marriage to Inderpreet Kaur, which ended in a divorce in 2016, Mann has two children -- son Dilshan and daughter Seerat -- who are currently staying in the US with their mother. Both children had attended Mann's swearing-in ceremony at Khatkar Kalan on March 16.
A spokesman for the Chief Minister's office said all domestic consumers in the state would be eligible to get zero bills if their consumption is up to 600 units in every billing cycle. This will give a big reprieve to the domestic consumers who have to hitherto shell out huge money every month in the form of power tariff.
On receiving information about the incident, SP City Dinesh Kumar Singh, along with police force, reached the spot. The injured youths were sent to the hospital for treatment and the matter is being investigated.
