PAU opens training centre for UPSC aspirants
In a step to guide Punjab's youth towards careers in civil services, the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) inaugurated the state training centre for IAS, PCS, and other competitive exams, at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Auditorium in the Students' Home.
PAU vice-chancellor Satbir Singh Gosal, praised the Punjab Government's initiative to establish such centres across the state. He said the centre at PAU, the first of its kind at the university, would be instrumental in shaping the future of aspiring bureaucrats and scholars. Highlighting the vital contribution of civil servants and agricultural scientists to nation-building, Gosal emphasised that the centre will provide free coaching to meritorious students, especially those from financially weak backgrounds. He added that a dedicated building for the centre is already in the pipeline and students will have full access to PAU's central library and other academic facilities.
Director of students' welfare, Nirmal Jaura, elaborated on the centre's purpose, calling it a step towards equal opportunity in education and public service. He informed the audience that PAU's centre is among eight, recently approved by the Punjab Government to train candidates for top government roles including IAS, IPS, PCS, IRS, and ARS. Jaura noted that a qualifying test, to be conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, will be used to select deserving students, who will also be eligible for scholarships.
Gursharanjit Singh Sandhu, principal of Government SCD College, lauded the initiative as a 'guiding light' for students determined to join civil services. The advisory panel includes top officials like the PAU vice-chancellor, director of higher education, deputy commissioner of Ludhiana, and PAU registrar, while the working committee is headed by Vipan Kumar Rampal with a team of dedicated faculty members.
As part of the inaugural ceremony, two outstanding students were honoured by the vice-chancellor. Parisdeep Aulakh, from the College of Horticulture and Forestry, secured an All-India Rank of 172 in UPSC CAPF 2024. Sourav, an alumnus of the College of Agriculture and now assistant director with MSME, was also recognised for his achievements.
International Day for Biological Diversity celebrated
The department of forestry and natural resources, in collaboration with the NSS unit at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), celebrated the International Day for Biological Diversity on June 16. The event was organised under the global theme 'Be Part of the Plan', with the aim to promote environmental awareness.
The ceremony supported by the National Biodiversity Authority through the Punjab Biodiversity Board and the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, Chandigarh, drew participation of around 250 students.
The highlight of the day was an expert lecture by Renu Bhardwaj, former professor at Guru Nanak Dev University, on 'How to Sustain Development and Preserve Biodiversity.' Bhardwaj captivated the audience by addressing the urgent need to protect natural resources amid growing environmental challenges like climate change, urban sprawl, and industrialisation.
Chief guest RIS Gill, estate officer, PAU, spoke about the root causes of biodiversity erosion and stressed the importance of its conservation through sustainable practices. The programme also included several interactive student competitions such as poster-making and slogan-writing.
The poster making competition was triumphed by Jasmandeep Kaur, Dhami Kapila, and Mehakpreet Kaur while Tanya Kaur, Arppita Sharma, and Avreet Kaur bagged prizes in slogan writing.
Concluding the event, GPS Dhillon, head of the department, highlighted PAU's commitment to biodiversity conservation, especially through nursery production of traditional tree species.
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Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Hindustan Times
PAU opens training centre for UPSC aspirants
In a step to guide Punjab's youth towards careers in civil services, the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) inaugurated the state training centre for IAS, PCS, and other competitive exams, at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Auditorium in the Students' Home. PAU vice-chancellor Satbir Singh Gosal, praised the Punjab Government's initiative to establish such centres across the state. He said the centre at PAU, the first of its kind at the university, would be instrumental in shaping the future of aspiring bureaucrats and scholars. Highlighting the vital contribution of civil servants and agricultural scientists to nation-building, Gosal emphasised that the centre will provide free coaching to meritorious students, especially those from financially weak backgrounds. He added that a dedicated building for the centre is already in the pipeline and students will have full access to PAU's central library and other academic facilities. Director of students' welfare, Nirmal Jaura, elaborated on the centre's purpose, calling it a step towards equal opportunity in education and public service. He informed the audience that PAU's centre is among eight, recently approved by the Punjab Government to train candidates for top government roles including IAS, IPS, PCS, IRS, and ARS. Jaura noted that a qualifying test, to be conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, will be used to select deserving students, who will also be eligible for scholarships. Gursharanjit Singh Sandhu, principal of Government SCD College, lauded the initiative as a 'guiding light' for students determined to join civil services. The advisory panel includes top officials like the PAU vice-chancellor, director of higher education, deputy commissioner of Ludhiana, and PAU registrar, while the working committee is headed by Vipan Kumar Rampal with a team of dedicated faculty members. As part of the inaugural ceremony, two outstanding students were honoured by the vice-chancellor. Parisdeep Aulakh, from the College of Horticulture and Forestry, secured an All-India Rank of 172 in UPSC CAPF 2024. Sourav, an alumnus of the College of Agriculture and now assistant director with MSME, was also recognised for his achievements. International Day for Biological Diversity celebrated The department of forestry and natural resources, in collaboration with the NSS unit at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), celebrated the International Day for Biological Diversity on June 16. The event was organised under the global theme 'Be Part of the Plan', with the aim to promote environmental awareness. The ceremony supported by the National Biodiversity Authority through the Punjab Biodiversity Board and the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, Chandigarh, drew participation of around 250 students. The highlight of the day was an expert lecture by Renu Bhardwaj, former professor at Guru Nanak Dev University, on 'How to Sustain Development and Preserve Biodiversity.' Bhardwaj captivated the audience by addressing the urgent need to protect natural resources amid growing environmental challenges like climate change, urban sprawl, and industrialisation. Chief guest RIS Gill, estate officer, PAU, spoke about the root causes of biodiversity erosion and stressed the importance of its conservation through sustainable practices. The programme also included several interactive student competitions such as poster-making and slogan-writing. The poster making competition was triumphed by Jasmandeep Kaur, Dhami Kapila, and Mehakpreet Kaur while Tanya Kaur, Arppita Sharma, and Avreet Kaur bagged prizes in slogan writing. Concluding the event, GPS Dhillon, head of the department, highlighted PAU's commitment to biodiversity conservation, especially through nursery production of traditional tree species.
Hindustan Times
12-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Ludhiana: Teachers hold statewide protest, slam government over unmet promises
Government school teachers from across the state gathered outside Punjab Agricultural University for a statewide protest rally on Wednesday. The demonstration was led by various teachers' unions, including the Democratic Teachers' Front (DTF) Punjab, 6635 ETT Teachers Union, 4161 Master Cadre Union, and others. Terming the policies of the Punjab government as discriminatory and unjust, the teachers accused the government of turning its back on them, claiming that the tall claims of bringing an 'Education revolution' now appear to be hollow. The agitated teachers raised various issues, such as job insecurity after being removed from recruitment lists, exclusion from transfer processes, failure to regularise meritorious school staff, non-implementation of old pension schemes, pending promotions, blocked allowances, and pay scale disparities. They slammed the government for issuing termination notices to teachers whose futures remain uncertain due to faulty recruitment decisions. The protest saw participation from teachers working hundreds of kilometers away from their hometowns who were denied even basic transfer opportunities after demanded the implementation of a court decision regarding providing full pay to 5,178 teachers during probation and regularisation of 7,654 Hindi subject educators and open distance learning teachers. The termination order of Ravinder Kamboj and delay in regular orders for several cadres were highlighted as examples of deep-rooted injustice. 'Ravinder was appointed on a contractual basis in 2013 and was due for regularisation in 2016. However, he was abruptly terminated in 2015 on the grounds that his postgraduate degree was not in the relevant subject. In a major relief, the Punjab and Haryana high court ruled in his favour in February this year, ordering the state government to regularise his services. Despite the court's directive, the government has failed to act, and Kamboj continues to work on a meagre monthly salary of ₹10,300 — the same since his initial appointment in 2013,' explained DTF president Vikram Dev Singh. Union leaders, including Vikram Dev Singh, Tina, Gaurav Sharma, and others addressed the protestors, demanding cancellation of direct recruitment orders for principals and block primary education officers (BPEOs) and restoration of 25% direct recruitment and 75% promotion quota. They further pressed for pay scale revisions for physical training instructors and art and craft teachers, regular jobs for contract and volunteer teachers, restoration of blocked rural and border allowances, and immediate fulfilment of all pending teacher promotions and recruitments. As tensions rose during the protest march, a brief scuffle broke out with the police. 'Our rally concluded as we have been assured meetings with the education secretary on June 13 and the chief minister on June 18 by the district administration officials,' said Vikram. 'This protest sent a clear message. Punjab's teachers are no longer willing to be silent victims of broken promises,' said Deepak Kamboj, state president of the 6635 ETT Teachers' Union.
The Hindu
11-06-2025
- The Hindu
Delimiting by electors rather than population offers a fairer approach
Several recent articles in the mainstream media suggest that a delimitation exercise — if carried out with population as the primary criterion for allocating parliamentary constituencies (PCs) — would disproportionately disadvantage the southern States. Proponents of this view argue that the southern States, having adhered more rigorously to family planning norms than their northern counterparts, would either receive comparatively fewer PC seats or could even be left with less seats than what they have currently. But the broader question that has not been adequately discussed is: what is the most rational criterion for allocation of PCs: population or the number of electors? Electors in a constituency are not always a subset of the population. Many electors may live outside their registered PCs, or may have failed to register. Census records are sensitive to migration, as they are based merely on a stay of six months or more (or even an intention to stay), without even requiring any proof of residence or registration in the voter list. Migrants also generally avoid/delay transferring their voter registration for various reasons. Furthermore, variations in the age structure — such as a higher proportion of under-18s — may also lead to large differences in elector numbers between PCs with similar populations. Importantly, the principle of 'one person, one vote, one value' aligns more closely with electors than the population. Using elector data avoids the wait for a Census and offers a more accurate measure of representation. Elector disparity The value of a vote can be considered inversely proportional to the number of electors in a PC. Data shows that vote value has varied significantly across regions and over time. Union Territories (UTs), hilly States, and north-eastern States have consistently had a disproportionately high vote value from 1951 to 2024, due to geographical considerations and the minimum representation requirement from each State. When comparing the southern States with other States, we find that they started with a higher vote value in 1951. However, this trend reversed, and they recorded a lower vote value in 1961, 1971, 1980, 1991, and 1999. The trend reversed once again, with the southern States registering a higher vote value in 2009, 2019, and 2024. It shows a mixed pattern, with the percentage difference in the average number of electors between the southern States and other States ranging from -10.5% to +5%. Importantly, the southern States began with a higher vote value per parliamentary constituency when the first Parliament was formed in 1951. This initial advantage may have potential long-term implications for government policies and initiatives, development outcomes, and more. Moreover, among the five largest and five smallest PCs (excluding hilly/UTs/north-east) in terms of electors, four in each group are from the southern States. The value of a vote in Idukki is 4.5 times higher than in Malkajgiri and 2.6 times higher than in Bangalore North. This indicates that rationalisation of PCs is more needed in the southern States. Rajya Sabha representation According to the elector data for 2024, the southern States account for just 22.45% of India's electors, yet they hold 23.8% of Lok Sabha seats. Their representation in the Rajya Sabha is even more skewed, at 24.4%, exceeding both their share of electors and their Lok Sabha seat share. The pattern is reversed for the other States. Although they comprise 71.2% of India's electors, they hold only 67.4% of Lok Sabha seats and just 64.4% of Rajya Sabha seats. In particular, Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats which is lower than Bihar's 40 or West Bengal's 42; but it has 18 Rajya Sabha seats, which is more than the 16 seats allotted to both Bihar and West Bengal. The fairer approach is to allocate seats based on electors. In the table, column 4 shows the proposed PC seats if the total number of seats is raised to 800. To avoid penalising smaller States and UTs, their current seat count is preserved, which results in a total of 810. The table shows that among the large States, Rajasthan (76%), Karnataka (60.7%), and Telangana (58.8%) would see the highest percentage gains in seats. The current narratives — that PCs are allocated solely on the basis of population, and that the potential reduction in seats in southern States is primarily due to their strict adherence to family planning policies — are not entirely accurate. First, constituency allocation has never been based purely on population. Other considerations, i.e., geographical challenges and minimum representation, have always played a role. Second, linking political representation to population control sets a dangerous precedent. By that logic, similar claims could be made for representation based on religion or caste. For instance, Jains, among all religious groups, and upper castes, among all social groups, have the highest adherence to population control, while Muslims and Scheduled Tribes have comparatively higher fertility rates. Third, when the criterion of using population for the formation of PCs was originally adopted, the consequences of the population enumeration method and the impact of large-scale migration were not anticipated. Therefore, the principle of 'one person, one vote, one value' in a true sense is more closely aligned with the number of electors rather than the population across PCs. Anish Gupta teaches Economics at Delhi School of Economics. Juliana from IEDS, Noida, helped in data entry.
