Chandigarh, June 1
Reiterating the firm commitment of the state government to avert any change in the nature and character of the Panjab University, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that 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 CM Manohar Lal Khattar here today, said that the Punjab government is committed to safeguard the rights of the state and its people. Bhagwant Mann, who firmly placed on record the facts pertaining to the university, said that 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 that Panjab University is a symbol of Punjab’s legacy and is synonymous with the name of the State.
The Chief Minister said that the University caters only to the state of 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 the state of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann said that it is important that the present legal and administrative status of the 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 1966 enacted by the Parliament.
The Chief Minister said that ever since its inception, the Panjab University has been continuously and uninterruptedly functioning in the State of Punjab. Bhagwant 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 that at present 175 colleges of Punjab situated in the districts of Fazilka, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Moga, Sri Muktsar Sahib and S.B.S Nagar are affiliated with the Panjab University.
