PUNJAB Governor Banwarilal Purohit has claimed that the committee set up by the State Government to screen applicants for the post of Vice-Chancellor of the Punjab Technical University was not as per UGC norms. The Governor on Wednesday said he approved the appointment of Susheel Mittal as the Vice-Chancellor of IK Gujral Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, out of a panel of three names forwarded to him by the Government, keeping in mind the interests of the university which has been without a head for two years. “Three names were sent to me and I chose who I thought was the best of the lot,” Purohit said.

 

The Punjab Assembly had on Tuesday passed a bill to replace the Governor with the Chief Minister as the Chancellor of State-run universities. The Governor has been at loggerheads with the AAP Government in Punjab over several issues, including the appointment of some Vice-Chancellors. “In the PTU case, I was told a search committee was formed as per UGC norms. Luckily, when I saw the file, there was nothing about UGC norms. The Chief Secretary is one of the members, the second member was an additional chief secretary. One UGC member was taken, but he was not informed,” the Governor told reporters here.