Centre appoints Tuhin Kanta Pandey as Finance Secretary
The Union government has appointed Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Tuhin Kanta Pandey as Finance Secretary.
The Punjab Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution opposing the Union government’s move to change the status of Punjab University into a Central University.
The House through the resolution asked the state government to take up the matter with the Centre so as not to alter the nature and character of Punjab University in any way keeping in view the sentiments of the people of Punjab.
The House said any decision to change the character of Punjab University won’t be acceptable to the people of Punjab and, therefore, recommended that no change in the nature and character of the university be considered by the Centre. Any proposal in case it is being considered should be dropped with immediate effect, it said.
The House said any decision to change the character of Punjab University won’t be acceptable to the people of Punjab and, therefore, recommended that no change in the nature and character of the university be considered by the Centre. Any proposal in case it is being considered should be dropped with immediate effect, it said.
“Panjab University is our heritage and it is a matter of identity for us, Punjabis. Along with Panjab University, Punjab has full rights on Punjabi speaking areas and waters,” higher education minister Meet Hayer said while speaking on the resolution.
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He said an attempt was being made by some vested interests to push the matter for a change in the status of Panjab University into a Central University on one pretext or the other. Be it river waters-sharing, Punjabi-speaking areas of Chandigarh being made the state’s capital, Punjab has been a victim of infringement of state rights, he said.
Opposing the resolution, Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Jangi Lal Mahajan said the resolution was to mislead the general public as there was no such proposal by the Centre to change the university’s status. He said the Punjab government had failed to give the 40 per cent grant to Panjab University.
The resolution said “since its inception, the Panjab University has been continuously and uninterruptedly functioning in the State of Punjab. It was shifted from Lahore, the then capital of Punjab, to Hoshiarpur and then to Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab. More than 175 colleges of Punjab, which are situated in the districts of Fazilka, Ferozpur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Moga, Sri Muktsar Sahib and SBS Nagar, are affiliated with the Panjab University at present.
The resolution said “since its inception, the Panjab University has been continuously and uninterruptedly functioning in the State of Punjab. It was shifted from Lahore, the then capital of Punjab, to Hoshiarpur and then to Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab. More than 175 colleges of Punjab, which are situated in the districts of Fazilka, Ferozpur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Moga, Sri Muktsar Sahib and SBS Nagar, are affiliated with the Panjab University at present.
“The entire territorial jurisdiction and the populace, which the Panjab University is catering to, falls majorly in the state of Punjab, in addition to the area under Union Territory of Chandigarh, which despite many resolutions of this august house has not been restored as the capital of Punjab state only and continues to be a Union Territory.” it read.
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