Punjab Governor rebuffs govt, cuts short extension granted to two VCs

Punjab Governor rebuffs govt, cuts short extension granted to two VCs

Chandigarh: Amid the ongoing turf war between Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the former has reduced the extension given to the Vice Chancellors of two state universities from one year to six months.

The development comes in the wake of the state government’s bid to remove the Governor as a Chancellor of the state universities. A Bill to this effect—Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was passed by the Vidhan Sabha during a special Assembly session in June. The Governor has already declared the session as “patently illegal” and thus, the fate of the Bills passed is still unknown. The Bills were sent to the Governor for his nod last month.

The state government had recommended one-year extension to Jaspal Singh Sandhu, VC, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and Karamjeet Singh, VC, Jagat Guru Nanak Dev Punjab State Open University, Patiala.

The Governor, citing the UGC norms, has allowed extension of six months each to both the VCs. “The VCs were appointed for a fixed period and the government should have made arrangements to fill the vacancies before their term ended,” reads the letter sent by the Governor to the government.

While allowing only six months extension, the Governor has reportedly said that this time should be used to look for new VCs in accordance with the UGC norms.

Sandhu was appointed as the VC in August 2017 for a period of three years and was given an extension in June 2020 for three years. Karamjeet was appointed as the VC in September 2020 for a period of three years.

Meanwhile, term of another VC (Maharaja Ranjit Singh Technical University, Bathinda) will end in November.

Earlier, the Governor had raised objections over the appointments of the VCs of the Punjab Agricultural University and Baba Farid University of Medical Sciences.

Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said, “The Governor should stop acting like a BJP worker. He should grace the post he holds by allowing smooth governance. He should keep his letters to himself.”