cancer XIII

Image of backwaters & water pollution prove roadblocks
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 20
The setting up of the Central University of Punjab in Bathinda has been a matter of pride for the state. But the prestigious institute has had its share of roadblocks which it is earnestly striving to overcome. A part of the development thrust for the region, the university has, at times, hindered by the problems that have plagued the region.
The decades-old image as a backward region coupled with the high level of air and water pollutions are proving to be major roadblocks that the university has been encountering.
The problem is so severe that the university authorities are finding it tough to convince highly-qualified staff to join the university.
Admitting the fact, Vice-chancellor of the university Dr Jai Rup Singh Gill said the university had planned to introduce seven new courses in the academic session 2010-11 but due to the non-availability of deserving faculty, none of the courses could be started.
Besides offering handsome salaries, the university provides a furnished transit accommodation to the new faculty members free of cost for the first three months so that they do not face any problem in finding a suitable accommodation. Despite this, most eminent educationists hesitate to come here, rued the Vice-chancellor.
It has been informed that against the total sanctioned posts of 66 teaching faculty members, the university has only 14 at present.
The VC further said, “It is not that the university lacks infrastructure or facility but there are a number of roadblocks prevailing in region as well as the system, which hamper our move.”
Gill cited the backward image of the city, pollution, health concerns, absence of fast connectivity, poor basic infrastructure and unavailability of trained and skilled personnel in all fields as the major reasons behind the unwillingness of people to move to Bathinda.
“Whenever media reports about the pollution and cancer in the region, people get afraid and show reluctance to join here,” he added.
The VC also blamed the lack of political commitment to cleanse the system as the reason for the blemished face of the region.
Narrating the origin of the university, Dr Gill recalled that the university started its functioning from a camp office in April 2009, which happened to be his residence. In November 2009, it shifted to its city campus — the closed Bacospin mill spread over 35 acres.
The Punjab government had acquired about 562 acres of land at the ancestral village of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal — Ghudda (Bathinda) — to set up the main campus of the university on 500 acres of the land but the land has still not been transferred to the university.
Well-equipped with an air-conditioned library, which has a range of 3,000 books and subscribes to various international and national journals and thousands of e-journals, the university is at present functioning from its transit campus located on the outskirts of the city.
The best part of the university is the nominal fee structure and fellowships and contingency grants to all students joining the M.Phil.-Ph.D. integrated programme. The university follows the semester system with complete internal evaluation and continuous assessment.
The university, at present, has a total strength of 45 students and offers courses in four schools. The university authorities are in the process of starting seven more courses in the coming session.