By SK.Vyas, Amritsar, September 29, 2017: Mere few days of joining as Vice Chancellor of the Guru Nanak Dev University, Prof. Dr. Jaspal Singh Sandhu started fulfilling his commitments with sincerity towards his alma mater and assured other commitments will be fulfilled very shortly.
In the last one month, apart from developing more dedicated, honest and committed work culture in the University, the promotion of 39 teachers on the recommendations of Anomalies/Modality Committee, nomination of eminent personalities to University Syndicate and Senate, Standing Committee of Vigilance, allocation of Rooftop Solar Energy Plant, establishment of Centre for Data Analytics and Research (CDAR), enhancement in the internet bandwidth speed, introduction of identity cum debit cards for cashless transactions for students and creating a dedicated email for feedback from students, starting of Online Admission Portal, e-transcript portal,Online Leave Portal and Research Portal, constitution of Centralized Purchase Committee, setup of Organogram for addressing the grievances of the students, signing of two MoUs to strengthen research and training and appointments of Dean, Faculty of Laws and Counselor for Psychological counseling of students were the commitments fulfilled by Vice Chancellor.
Prof. Jaspal Singh Sandhu thanked the University fraternity of their cooperation for overall development of the University and assured all possible help to fulfill their requirements within the rules and regulations.
During last few days promotion of 39 Teachers of various Faculties under CAS from Stage I to II and Stage II to III as per University Grants Commission’s norms have been made. To handle anomalies, an Anomalies/ Modality Committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Prof. S.S. Chahal, former Vice Chancellor of Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur.
The nomination of eminent personalities in the University Syndicate/ Senate like Sh. R. Subrahmanyam, IAS, Additional Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India, Sh. S. S. Johl, Chancellor, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda and former Vice Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University and Punjabi University Patiala besides being former Vice Chairman of the Planning Board of Punjab and Sh. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, three times MLA from the border belt coming into the jurisdiction of the University.
Similarly, a Standing Committee of Vigilance with Sh. Dilsher Singh Kalha, IAS (Retd.), former Secretary, Govt. of India, Sh. Ashok Thakur, IAS (Retd.), former Educational Secretary, Govt. of India and Sh. Anil Kaushik, IPS (Retd.), former DGP appointed as members of the Committee to bring propriety and honesty in the system. Justice (Retd.) Rajive Bhalla of the Punjab Haryana High Court has been appointed as Dean Faculty of Laws. Appointment of Counselor for providing Psychological counseling to students as mandated by the University Grants Commission. Students can approach the Counselor for any Psychological need and the facility is free of cost for University students. Even this facility is also available for outsiders.
As a major initiative towards green environment and also to reduce the financial burden, the University approached Solar Energy Corporation of India for installation of Rooftop Solar Energy Plant. The University has been allocated a Rooftop Solar Energy Plant of 3 Mega Watt capacity under Government of India’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). There will be no financial burden of installation on the University and It will save around 1.08 Crore per annum in electricity charges.
Establishment of Centre for Data Analytics and Research (CDAR) to provide necessary support to the researchers and academician to enable them to submit the proposal to Federal Funding Agencies and for sending research papers to high impact journals. Encouraging students to plant at least one plant and nurture it for 6 months on the advice of LSO and Head, Botanical Sciences. A group of volunteer students has already taken initiative for the same.
Increased the Internet Bandwidth Scheme of University Campus from 10 MbPS to 1GbPS through National Knowledge Network (NKN), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. Increased Bandwidth will ensure fast and high quality internet connectivity for the students of the University. Creating a dedicated email for feedback from students in which they can mail their problems regarding non-conduction of lectures and any other suggestions for the better functioning of the University. Name of the student is kept confidential and appropriate action is taken on the mails received.
Identity Cum Debit Cards Introduced for cashless transactions for the students in University campus. POS machines installed for deposition of fees and for user charges in the Health Centre. This will help the students in carrying out the cashless transactions which will go in line with Govt. of India’s initiative of Digital India. As digital initiatives, Online Admission Portals for all affiliated colleges of the Universty, e-Transcript portal for verification of credentials and Transcripts, Online Leave Portal and Research Portal have been launched. Declaration of result of Youth Festival Competitions immediately after the culmination of the events by the Judges and team of observers has been deputed which was appreciated by all and especially by coaches.
During this time the University has received grants of Rs. 6.0 Crores from DST under the PURSE scheme and Rs. 4.0 Crores sanctioned by Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA). University also Constituted a Centralized Purchase committee to make all purchase beyond 5 Lacs from Vendors registered on Government E-Market Portal. Link on University website for Conferences/ Seminars attended by various faculty members in last five Years is also made available for the facility of researchers and teachers. Setup of Organogram for addressing the grievances of the students relating to mess Issues, cleanliness issues and medical Issues for students in hostels. For improving the facilities for students, 70 Water Coolers with R.O. have been purchased and are being installed which will ensure clean and purified drinking water for the students/ faculty. Constitution of committee for Rationalization of Space in the Teaching Departments and for Teaching Days keeping in view the Judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. Constitution of Committee for publishing a regular e-Magazine on University Website.
Two Memorandums of Understanding were signed one with Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu to share the facilities and expertise available and to explore, extend and strengthen the functional collaboration between the two institutions. Another Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali, to create an institutional framework for enriching scientific endeavors in mutually agreed fields of research and training by sharing resources, knowledge and developing various research programmes.