After decade-long debate, Centre overhauls PU senate, syndicate
According to the Centre’s October 28 notification, effective immediately, the 31 senate members will include 18 elected members, six nominated and seven ex-officio members. Among the elected members will be two eminent alumni and one professor each from the varsity’s Arts and Science departments.
After an almost decade-long debate, the Centre has effected a major overhaul in the functioning of the 142-year-old Panjab University (PU), trimming the size of its apex governing body, the senate, to 31, and doing away with elections for its executive body, the syndicate.
Until now, the senate had 97 members while the syndicate members were elected from among the senators. According to the Centre’s October 28 notification, effective immediately, the 31 senate members will include 18 elected members, six nominated and seven ex-officio members. Among the elected members will be two eminent alumni and one professor each from the varsity’s Arts and Science departments.
Besides, the syndicate elections, where pressure groups from the university prevailed, have been scrapped and the executive body will be nominated by the vice-chancellor on a rotational basis, depending on seniority. These members don’t necessarily have to be members of the senate, which many feel, may undermine the work of the senate.
Registered graduate constituency abolished
The graduate constituency of senate members, who were elected from amongst students in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and others, a cumbersome exercise, has been abolished. Earlier, with 15 elected members, it was the largest constituency of the senate.
PU was the only university in the region to have a graduate constituency.
This is the first time in 59 years that the constitution of the senate has been changed.
As per the fresh notification, most of the ex-officio members will be from Punjab and Chandigarh, while Haryana’s demand of allowing participation in the senate has not been yielded to. The inclusion of Chandigarh MP and some more officers from the UT would be another key feature of the new senate. But Punjab’s representation remains largely unchanged. The Centre has also not yielded to a demand that student council members of the varsity be given representation in the senate. However, nominations may take place in some category by the chancellor.
V-C will have more control now, says former V-C Grover
Reacting to the development, former PU vice-chancellor Arun Kumar Grover said that the reforms are in line with most universities of the country. Regarding complaints that Punjab’s representation has reduced in the new compact structure, Grover said that Punjab chief minister, education minister and higher education secretary have all retained their ex-officio seats, giving the Punjab government a higher representation in a more compact senate. “Gangsterism in the senate is gone now and the V-C will have more control over the senate. However a bad V-C for the university can be more detrimental for the university,” he added.
The demand for senate reforms had started during Grover’s tenure as VC a decade ago and a committee was also formed for the same. The changes are largely based on a committee set up in 2021 by then chancellor M Venkaiah Naidu. The committee submitted its report in 2022 and even as the term of the senate ended in October 2024, the elections were not held, in an indication that overhaul was imminent. The reforms were necessitated by growing perception that V-C’s are not able to function independently due to pressure from senators.
