Ludhiana: Panels to see if UGC norms were followed while hiring faculty members

Three committees have been set up for colleges under GNDU, PU and Patiala varsity; officials will check eligibility of principals, assistant and associate professors in aided colleges

The directorate of higher education has established three committees across the state to verify the eligibility of principals, assistant professors and associate professors working in government-aided colleges affiliated with Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Panjab University (PU) and Punjabi University. Each committee consists of three senior principals, tasked with scrutinising staff credentials as per the guidelines of University Grants Commission (UGC).

Jatinder Singh Gill, deputy director (DPI Colleges - Grant 1), says the direction has come from the DPI director, following which the process has been set in motion.

For colleges under the GNDU, the committee includes Chandrakanta, principal of Government College, Bootan Mandi, Jalandhar; Parminder Kaur, principal of Government College, Ajnala; and Shashi Bala, principal (additional charge) of Government College, Bhulath.

Evaluations for colleges affiliated with Punjabi University will be conducted by Dapinder Kaur, principal of Government College of Education, Patiala; Gurinderjit Kaur, principal of Government College, Mohali; and Monika Sehgal, principal of Government College, Mandi Gobindgarh.

The PU-affiliated colleges will be assessed by Deepak Chopra, principal of Government College East; Rajeev Kumar, principal of Government College, Jagraon; and Sharanjeet Parmar, principal of Government College, Raikot.

Tarun Ghai, spokesperson for the Association of United College Teachers (AUCT) Punjab and Chandigarh, had filed an RTI seeking the release of inquiry reports on a few principal appointments. According to Ghai, “The inquiry was initiated in 2022. We have been pushing the department to make its findings public. The report revealed a few inappropriate appointments. We are pleased that the department has now taken this necessary step that will uphold transparency and accountability in the hiring process within higher education institutions, ensuring that all appointments meet the required standards.”

Jatinder Singh Gill, deputy director (DPI Colleges - Grant 1), stated, “The directive came from the DPI director, following which the process has been set in motion.”

Deepak Chopra, one of the committee members, confirmed that the colleges have been instructed to submit their staff documents to the higher education office for review. “Our first task is to evaluate the staff from Moga district. We visited the DPI office on Tuesday and the documents of the staff members from two colleges of Moga were reviewed. The process has just been initiated so it will take nearly a month to cover all the concerned higher educational institutions of the state,” Chopra stated.