Colleges Managements Terms Punjabi University’s Decision on Doubling Endowment Arbitrary

LUDHIANA: An emergent meeting of the Executive Body of the Non-Government Colleges Managements Federation of Punjab and Chandigarh (NGCMF) was held today at SD College, Barnala, to deliberate on various pressing issues confronting Colleges across the State

Amrik Singh

Jun 9, 2026 - 09:17

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LUDHIANA: An emergent meeting of the Executive Body of the Non-Government Colleges Managements Federation of Punjab and Chandigarh (NGCMF) was held today at SD College, Barnala, to deliberate on various pressing issues confronting Colleges across the State. Presidents and Secretaries or representatives of the Managing Committees of several aided and un-aided affiliated Colleges under Panjabi University, Patiala, participated in the meeting.

The executive body unanimously decided to vehemently oppose the decision of the Punjabi University, Patiala on doubling of the endowment funds for the affiliated Colleges. They asked all the Colleges not to pay heed to such a draconian decision of the varsity that will financially hit the Colleges. They also resolved to fight the decision of the varsity at all levels including political, bureaucratic and even legal if need be.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of President Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina who termed the decision of the University unjustified and detrimental to the Colleges’ fiscal health. Advocate Jatinder Nath Sharma, general secretary, SD College which hosted the meeting, welcomed the delegates at the College campus. He said primary objective of the meeting was to save the educational institutions, facing fiscal hardships.

Chhina stated that the University has increased the endowment fund for Arts, Science and Commerce Colleges (for Girls) from Rs.10 lakhs to Rs.20 lakhs, and for Law, Professional, Physical Education and other multidisciplinary Colleges from Rs.20 lakhs to Rs.40 lakhs.

SS Chatha, President, Punjabi University Unaided Colleges Association (PUDCA) also gave whole support from his body for fighting the cause of the Colleges, affiliated to the varsity. Meanwhile Chhina, earlier said that Colleges, particularly those located in rural and remote areas with low student enrolment, are already facing severe financial challenges due to the widening gap between revenue and expenditure. He further stated that the Federation would continue to pursue the concerns of aided Colleges with the Director Public Instructions (DPI), Secretary, Education and other senior authorities in higher education department.

During the meeting, detailed discussions were held on the implications of the University’s circular. The executive also expressed concern over the continuing financial strain on aided Colleges due to rising operational costs, decreasing grants from government, inadequate government support to the institutions of higher education.

Members emphasized that aided Colleges have played a pivotal role in expanding access to higher education, particularly in rural and border regions of Punjab, and urged the State Government to formulate a comprehensive policy to strengthen and sustain these institutions in the larger interest of students and society.

Federation General Secretary S.M. Sharma said that several other important issues were also discussed, including the release of pending DPI grants, implementation of full-fledged the 95% Grant-in-Aid Scheme for all regular teachers, review of teaching and non-teaching posts in view of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and reimbursement of gratuity and earned leave encashment payments as part of the grant-in-aid.

Among those present at the meeting were Ravinder Nath Joshi, Dr. Mehal Singh, VC, Khalsa University, former VC, GNDU, Dr.SP Singh, Dr. Khushvinder Kumar, Rahul Kumar Attri, Dr. Sarbjit Singh Kular, Dr. Pushpinder Kaur, Dr. Harkirat Singh, Er. Vinod Jindal, Rajeev Jain, Ram Kumar Sobti, Pardeep Goyal, Harbhajan Singh, RK Gupta, Gurtej S Brar, Satwant Singh, Hardial Singh Attri, Gurwinder Singh Sarna, Dr. Narinder Singh, Adv. Sanjay Goyal, Udham Singh Aulakh, Dr. ML Bansal, Dr. R.K. Goyal, Dr. Meena Kumari.