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Punjabi varsity admission cell in eye of storm

PATIALA: Questions are being raised over honorarium paid to officials working in the admission cell of Punjabi University despite the number of admissions going down. Professors of the university say the university has been spending huge amounts on admission process despite it reeling under the financial crunch.

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Ravneet Singh

Tribune News Service

Patiala, January 28

Questions are being raised over honorarium paid to officials working in the admission cell of Punjabi University despite the number of admissions going down. Professors of the university say the university has been spending huge amounts on admission process despite it reeling under the financial crunch. 

An official of the university has filed an RTI seeking the details of the expenditure incurred by the cell since its inception. The professors today claimed almost all officials of the cell had been working since its inception but no changes had been made in its set up despite its poor performance.

An official, who attended a meeting that was held to look into low admissions in the current academic session today, said: “At one time, the number of applicants in the university was twice the number of seats available for various courses. Today, the situation is just the opposite. In fact, there has been no admission in the MCA course this year in at least three campuses of Mohali, Maur and Jaito.”

Recently, the university had also written to the heads of teaching departments and principals of various constituent colleges with regard to low admissions.

Another senior professor, requesting anonymity, said the university could use the services of employees of various departments in admission process. “Why are they paying extra remuneration to workers of the admission cell for work within the university campus?” he asked

Prof Pushpinder Singh Gill, who also attended the meeting, said: “I am willing to do work of the admission cell without honorarium. The university is already reeling under financial crises and we should work towards its betterment.” He said he would file an RTI about the total expenditure incurred by the admission cell since its establishment during the tenure of former Vice-Chancellor Jaspal Singh.

Professor Gill said: “Earlier, there was a decentralised system where all departments conducted admissions separately. The number of applicants was far greater than the number of seats available then.”

Another official added that the medical bills of a large number of employees of the university had been pending for the past more than two years. “The university has not been able to reimburse the medical bills. While loans have been sought from banks against the university’s fixed deposits, the authorities are diligently paying honorarium to the staff of the admission cell.”

Dr GS Batra, Dean, Academics, who chaired the meeting, was not available for comment despite repeated attempts. Dr GS Batra said, "We are holding various meetings with officials to ensure better admission number at all departments. We want all to give views for a better performance of the university."

Student count sliding

The professors claimed almost all officials of the cell had been working since its inception but no changes had been made in its set-up despite its poor performance.An official, who attended a meeting that was held to look into low admissions in the current academic session, said: “At one time, the number of applicants in the university was twice the number of seats available for various courses. Today, the situation is just the opposite. In fact, there has been no admission in the MCA course this year in at least three campuses of Mohali, Maur and Jaito.” 

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