Chandigarh,22 May:On the 46th day of the chain fast of the students and teachers on the campus for the central university status for P.U. four teachers, A.S. Ahluwalia, Chairman, Joint Action Committee, Manjit Singh, Coordinator, JAC
, Komal Singh, Department of Public Administration, and Prabhat Singh from the Hoshiarpur Regional Centre of the University sat on the chain fast while Vivek Chandel, research scholar from the department of Botany also joined the fast. The strong showers in the morning failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the P.U community and hundreds of them today thronged the site of dharna.
Prof. A.S. Ahluwalia, addressing the media from the dharna site disclosed that never before in the history of Panjab University such a large number of teachers and students have fought together for such a long time on the issue of saving academics. Panjab University, that has national character right from its inception, and had affiliated colleges spread over as far as Daman, Diu and Arunachal Pradesh, is a national heritage. It is the duty of every citizen of India, all the more so of its alumni, to protect this heritage from falling prey to the political calculations of the state and central government. When asked that how would you continue with the chain fast during the summer vacation when most of the students and teachers may be away, Prof. Ahluwalia disclosed that JAC leadership has already prepared the list of volunteers for the next one month, and many more are coming forward for the purpose.
“Chain fast is just a humble beginning of our struggle for the central status for P.U. and already we have succeeded in making clear to the people that the future of P.U. is not secure if the budget of P.U. continues to dwindle at the present pace, thanks to the negative attitude of the Punjab Government”, said Manjit Singh, Secretary PUTA. When asked that what is the hope of decision on the central status in the near future, Prof Singh squarely answered that instead of nurturing lurking hopes from the irresponsible governments that have no time for the citizens, the real question should be asked that how far JAC is ready to take up the challenge. “We are all set to fight a decisive battle”, said Prof. Singh.