Chandigarh: Now, attendance of PU research scholars to be cleared by DRDC
Further, all chairpersons and supervisors have also been asked to ensure that all research fellows are involved in academic activities 24/7 as per UGC guidelines
Panjab University (PU) has issued a circular to varsity chairpersons and heads of all teaching departments to send compiled attendance of all students enrolled in PhD under JRF programmes to the director research and development cell (DRDC) for approval before putting it on the department’s attendance portal.
Earlier, the departments used to send the list directly to the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Further, all chairpersons and supervisors have also been asked to ensure that all research fellows are involved in academic activities 24/7 as per UGC guidelines.
The issue was also raised during an ongoing protest being held by a varsity’s Joint Action Committee after the murder of UIET student Aditya Thakur. Research scholar Gautam Bhoria said the step was PU’s plan to keep the protesters under control. “As JRF scholars, our attendance is between us and UGC. PU is trying to punish us for participating in the protest, and we demand that the administration takes this back,” he said.
Meanwhile, showcause notices were also sent to two JRF scholars for violating UGC norms for burning the effigies of vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar during his visit to PU in December. But they were later revoked.
PU authorities said that it’s a normal procedure as attendance of both undergraduate and postgraduate students are displayed by the department. They said that the conduct of the researcher is one of the parameters, and if they are engaging in non-academic activities,s then UGC must also be made aware of it.
Gate number 2 blocked for around one hour
Gate number 2 of Panjab University remained closed for about an hour due to the ongoing protest by the Joint Action Committee, seeking justice for UIET student Aditya Thakur who was murdered at a concert on the campus on March 28.
PU registrar YP Verma came to pacify the protesters and briefed them about the varsity’s action on the issues raised by the students. The protesters, however, were relentless in their demand for the resignation of the dean student welfare, the chief university security and the vice-chancellor.
Speaking later, Verma said, “We are already doing a revamp of PU’s security infrastructure. By April 18, we will take details of all car owners in PU and issue sticker,s which will be essential for entry to campus. We will wait for the magisterial inquiry before initiating any action against the officials.”
With former Punjab superintendent of police Tejinder Singh Sandhu to join PU as officer on special duty (OSD) campus security, Verma said we can expect further strictness when it comes to security and they will act against outsiders.
