|
Chandigarh: Hit by
rising incidents of campus violence, Panjab University (PU), one
of the oldest varsities in the country, has taken some bold steps,
including opening a webpage on trouble makers and asking new
students for affidavits on their past record.
The varsity has opened a webpage on its website that will contain
all past details about tainted students - the type of offence,
punishment and all personal details.
The heads of various departments will go through the webpage
before offering admission to any among them.
"We have taken this step to curb violence inside the university
campus. We have observed that there are certain students who
indulge in violence and in incidents of road rage inside the
campus very frequently. All details of such students will be
uploaded on a separate page on the PU website," Naval Kishore,
PU's dean for students' welfare (DSW), told IANS.
"Before offering admission, the head of the department will scan
this webpage and, on his discretion, will decide whether to give
admission to the student. Besides keeping a tab on criminal
students from entering the campus, this initiative will also act
as a deterrent for other students," stated Kishore.
Over 11,000 students, about 70 percent of them girls, study in
around 70 research and teaching departments of PU. It is spread
over 550 acres covering Sectors 14 and 25.
PU is the alma mater of many senior bureaucrats and senior
politicians, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The varsity authorities have also decided to take an affidavit
from all new students about their past record.
"Students will be required to submit an affidavit, within a month
of admission, stating whether he has any criminal background or he
has been convicted in any criminal offence.
"If a case has been registered against him, then the student has
to furnish all details of the FIR," a senior official of PU told
IANS.
He added: "If a student provides fake details or fails to provide
this affidavit, then he will be rusticated from the department."
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had done his graduation and
post-graduation in Economics from here in the 1950s. Later, he
joined the university as a lecturer and went on to become a
professor at the young age of 32 years.
The varsity's image has, however, been tarnished by frequent
violent incidents that rocked the campus in the past few years.
According to the records of Chandigarh Police, nearly 50 criminal
cases, related to violence involving PU students, have been
registered since 2005 and over 100 people arrested or detained for
questioning.
Besides Chandigarh Police officials, there are around 125 private
security guards deployed in the PU campus to maintain law and
order.
Students have expressed happiness over this initiative of PU.
"We come to this university to study. But some students have made
it a platform to display their muscle power.
"We support this initiative of PU authorities and believe it will
certainly control the increasing crime graph of the varsity,"
Akanksha Moudgil, a PU engineering student, told IANS.
Ashok Sahini, a parent, said: "We welcome this step. Fear of being
denied admission will work and now students will think many times
before indulging in violence."
(Alkesh Sharma
can be contacted at alkesh.s@ians.in)
|
Comments
|
Quick links