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.
Cheema also took on both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress which have decided to boycott the inauguration ceremony. He said AAP was talking about the issue being one of respect for the President.
Slamming the Union government for demeaning the position of President of the country by not inviting her to the inaugural ceremony of new Parliament, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said he would not attend the function slated to be held on May 28.
Eight more women were reunited with their families hailing from Punjab on Wednesday after they landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi from Oman. Seven women were rescued last week under the initiative #Mission Hope, taking the total figures to 15.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday slammed the Congress for criticising the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28. Puri's remarks come amid a war of words between the Congress and BJP over the inauguration of the new Parliament House.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in a tweet, said, "Professor Brian P Schmidt of Australian National University met PM Narendra Modi in Sydney. He praised India's strides in research and science. He says India's ability to do world-class science has become an order of magnitude higher."
Proclaimed offender of the highly sensitive 2015 Bargari sacrilege cases in Punjab, Sandeep Bareta, was arrested from the Bengaluru airport on Tuesday, police said. A lookout notice issued against him by Punjab Police.
