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.
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The NIA had produced Bishnoi before the court after bringing him to Delhi from Punjab on Monday for questioning in connection with a case registered last year. Bishnoi is currently lodged in Bathinda Central Jail.
Special judge M.K. Nagpal of the Rouse Avenue Court will pronounce the order on April 26. On Monday, the court had extended Sisodia's judicial custody by two weeks in the case.The probe agency had also said that the 60 days given to complete the investigation against Sisodia are not over yet.
The Chief Minister said: "Before 2017, the state was infamous for riots. More than 700 riots rocked the state between 2012 and 2017. But not a single riot broke out after 2017. Earlier, just the names of many districts scared people. Now there is no need to be scared.
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