PAU tight-lipped on transfers Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Weeds grown in the trial fields of cotton maintained by the Farm Machinery Department and the Soil and Water Engineering Department. Tribune photo: Himanshu Mahajan Ludhiana, September 18 The Punjab Agricultural University authorities are tight-lipped on the issue of transfers of two assistant professors late evening on September 12, the first day of Kisan Mela. Most of the PAU faculty and employees feel the transfers are unjustified. The PAU authorities transferred the two assistant professors of the Agro Meteorology Department after the Day 1 of the Kisan Mela was washed out in heavy rain. The decision was taken without holding any inquiry or seeking clarification from both professors. It has been learnt that the authorities blamed the assistant professors for failing to predict the weather on the inaugural day of the mela. Later, the PAU Teachers Association (PAUTA) claimed that the weather was not the reason behind the transfers. According to the office-bearers of PAUTA, Tota Singh, Agriculture Minister, expressed dissatisfaction over a trial field of cotton crop located near Gate No. 4. The Vice-Chancellor took action against these professors in this regard. During his visit to the PAU for the inauguration of the mela, the Agriculture Minister discussed about the fields of maize, cotton and some other crops. He stated: “I have found that some of the fields are not maintained properly. I saw weeds growing in the fields near Gate No. 4. “ Vice-Chancellor asked Dr Jaskaran Singh, Dean, College of Agriculture Engineering, to provide the details to the minister. Dr Jasakaran Singh informed the minister that the Farm Machinery Department did not cultivate cotton crop near Gate No. 4. Meanwhile, during a visit to the trial fields at the PAU, a team of The Tribune found that a trial field of cotton near the same gate, maintained by the Farm Machinery Department, also had weeds grown all over. The trial field of cotton, cultivated by the Soil and Water Engineering Department, was also in a bad shape. Most of the trial fields of maize, including a field behind the Vice Chancellor’s office, are also ill-maintained and were full of weeds. A senior professor of the College of Agriculture, PAU, said: “The assistant professors can’t be punished for inaccurate predictions. The authorities should fix the responsibility of senior officials of the department. This practice will affect the research in the university. If the ill-maintained trial fields are the issue, then all other professors, whose fields have weeds, should have been equally punished. The Director, Research, is also responsible for all trial fields”. KS Sangha, president, PAUTA, said: “We will take up the matter with the authorities soon”. Ministerspeak The Agricultural Minister clarified that he did not find anything wrong on the PAU campus during his visit. “I had some suggestions to make about the fields. I discussed those (suggestions) with the PAU authorities. It was a freewheeling chat about fields, food and weather. We discussed issues like the uncertainty of weather and the shortage of labour. The Vice-Chancellor is independent to take decisions. I have no issues with the fields at the PAU,” said the minister, while talking to The Tribune.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 01:26:51 +0000
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