Centre bows to student pressure: Education Ministry withdraws order changing Panjab University Senate, Syndicate structure
PTC Web Desk: The Ministry of Education has accepted the demands of students and other stakeholders by withdrawing its earlier order that proposed changes to the constitution and composition of the Senate and Syndicate of Panjab University, Chandigarh.
According to an official statement from the Ministry, the decision follows extensive consultations with students, teachers, former vice-chancellors, and the current Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University. The ministry had earlier issued a notification under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, based on recommendations from a High-Level Committee (HLC) constituted by the Chancellor of the University on March 2, 2021.
After the notification was released, several stakeholders, including student organisations, raised concerns regarding the proposed restructuring. The Ministry of Education held meetings with various student bodies to review the feedback received.
“Having regard to the above, it has now been decided by the Ministry of Education that the aforesaid order changing the constitution and composition of the Senate and Syndicate shall stand rescinded,” the ministry’s release stated.
Notably, Panjab University’s Senate and Syndicate trace their origins to the university’s early democratic framework established in the 19th century. The institution evolved from Government College, Lahore, founded on January 1, 1864, and renamed University College in 1869. The Senate was created as the governing body and the Syndicate as the executive arm when the University of the Punjab was formally established in 1882, the fourth university in British India.
The university’s original calendar outlined a democratically elected structure for both bodies. In 1904, a common representative calendar was introduced for the first five universities, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Lahore, and Allahabad, further standardising governance.
Following Partition in 1947, the East Panjab University was established on October 1, 1947, preserving this representative system. Later, in 1966, Panjab University became an inter-state institution, continuing with its elected Senate and Syndicate, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor.
The Syndicate serves as the executive authority of Panjab University, responsible for implementing the Senate’s policy decisions and managing the university’s day-to-day administrative affairs, subject to the Senate’s approval. The Senate, on the other hand, functions as the supreme policy-making body, empowered to formulate policies, elect the Syndicate, Finance Committee, faculty committees, and their deans, and deliberate on matters concerning the university and its affiliated institutions.
- PTC NEWS
