Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday sought the intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to prevent any change in the nature and character of the Panjab University, Chandigarh.

“The state government vehemently opposes any such move of Government of India to examine the feasibility of converting Panjab University into a Central University,” wrote the Chief Minister in separate letters to Amit Shah and Dharmendra Pradhan.

The Chief Minister apprised both the Union Ministers that State Government will not like any change in the nature and character of the University as it has an emotional place in the hearts of the people of Punjab on account of historical, cultural, and provincial reasons. He bemoaned that from last some time, forces with certain vested interests have been trying to push the matter for change of PU’s status into a Central University. Mann reminded both the leaders that at the time of the reorganization of the State of Punjab in 1966, PU was declared as an ‘Inter State Body Corporate’ under section 72(1) of the Punjab Reorganization Act 1966 enacted by the Parliament. “This status was duly confirmed in several judgments passed by the courts. Ever since its inception, PU has been continuously and uninterruptedly functioning in the state of Punjab,” he said.

He also reminded that it was shifted from Lahore — the then capital of Punjab, to Hoshiarpur, and then to Chandigarh — the present capital of Punjab. “At present, 175 colleges of Punjab situated in the districts of Fazilka, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Moga, Sri Muktsar Sahib, and SBS Nagar are affiliated with PU,” he added.

The Chief Minister asserted that PU’s entire territorial jurisdiction lies primarily in state of Punjab and Union Territory of Chandigarh. “As per Sub-section (4) of Section 72 of the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966, the maintenance deficit grants to the University were to be shared and paid by the States concerned, that is Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and UT Administration of Chandigarh in the ratio of 20:20:20:40, respectively. However, the states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh decided to withdraw from this sharing arrangement,” he said, adding that Haryana Government also withdrew the affiliation of its colleges from PU.

Thus, from 1976 onwards, the state of Punjab and UT Administration of Chandigarh have borne the financial responsibility of paying maintenance deficit grants to the University in the ratio of 40:60 respectively, he pointed adding that Punjab Government is presently giving grant-in-aid of Rs 42 crore to PU annually, besides nearly Rs 100 crore annually collected by the University from affiliated colleges located in Punjab.

Declaring that Panjab University is a “symbol of Punjab’s legacy” and is synonymous with name of State, Mann said that the University caters only to the state of Punjab and its capital Chandigarh so there exists no reason to alter the character of the University into a central one.