Punjabi University fails to deposit fees to UGC for distance education courses, 15k students left in lurch

Punjabi University has suspended senior faculty and head of department (HOD) of distance education Prof Satnam Singh Sandhu and a clerk after the department failed to pay a fee to the Distance Education Bureau (DEB) of the UGC for running distance education courses. There are nearly 15,000 students enrolled in various distance education courses offered by the university.

The member of the clerical staff identified as Sukhwinder Singh has also been suspended, following the vice-chancellor’s orders. The department was supposed to pay online fees to DEB before March 31.

As a consequence of the non-approval, Punjabi University has suspended admissions to graduate and postgraduate courses at its department of open and distance learning for the academic year 2023-24.

The decision of DEB has not only tarnished the university’s reputation but will also impact it financially as distance education was a significant source of its revenue, a university professor, who didn’t wish to be named, said.

According to the UGC, the university was required to apply for approval before March 31. However, Punjabi University failed to adhere to the set deadline. Consequently, DEB suspended the approval of Punjabi University to enrol fresh students.

The fate of already enrolled students is also uncertain, as there is no clarity on the approval of their degrees, stated the above-quoted professor.

Among the five universities (public and private) in Punjab running UGC-recognized courses at their distance education departments, Punjabi University offers the maximum number of graduate (17) and postgraduate (17) courses.

Person privy to the development said that vice-chancellor Dr Arvind made efforts to obtain DEB’s approval, but they did not oblige, stating that they could not accept documentation without the corresponding fee, the deadline for which was March 31.

“The university’s inability to carry out online transactions caused a delay and closure of the portal. While officials attempted to attribute the fee deposit issue to a technical glitch, the V-C discovered that it resulted from a delay on the part of university functionaries. Consequently, he took action to suspend the HOD and a member of the clerical staff.

Despite attempts, Prof Sandhu could not be contacted for comments. The university has also asked students who enrolled for fresh courses to withdraw their fees.