Exam fee revision on Syndicate agenda

Amarjot Kaur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 21

Panjab University Syndicate meeting, scheduled for May 28, is all set to deliberate on several issues — from finalising fee structures in the coming session to taking a call on the recommendations of a committee for releasing pending grants from Punjab Government under the Post-Matric Scholarship (PMS) Scheme for SC/ST students.

According to PU Finance Development Officer Vikram Nayyar, the university had not received the PMS grants from the government since 2016. The amount pending with the university department/regional centre, and PU’s constituent colleges, was pegged at Rs 15.7 crore.

In February, the Syndicate had given a nod to full-fee waiver for its transgender students. Now, it will deliberate over the recommendations of a committee for re-examining the guidelines/rules for exemption to the third-gender students.

The Syndicate will call the shots on rate-revision, which includes finalisation of examination fee, rent charges, meals/washing charges, and charges for handbook of hostel rules (2019-2020) at the PU Regional Centre, Bajwara. It will also consider granting of basic pay +grade pay and daily allowance (DA) to employees appointed on DC rates after December, 2008. "The daily wagers, who have been working at the university for more than 10 years, had not received either dearness allowance or grade pay," said Panjab University Staff Association president Deepak Kaushik.

The fate of appointing outside adjunct faculty (as per the UGC guidelines) in the university’s teaching departments also lies in the hands of the Syndicate. Besides, it will take a call on the extension of several PU employees, including coordinator of NSS and dean/associate dean, and propounding the possibility of an MoU between UIET and Eastern Industries, Baddi, and State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA.