Rajpura 1^st August 2020

A delegation of Punjab Unaided College Association (PUCA) today met Sh. Chander Gaind, IAS, Divisional Commissioner, Patiala & greeted him on becoming the Divisional commissioner of Patiala.

Delegation met him under the leadership of Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA & Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges. Sh. Vipin Sharma, Executive Member (PUCA) was also present on this occasion.

On the one hand Dr. Anshu Kataria apprised Commissioner about the various issues being faced by Unaided Colleges of district Patiala.

On the other hand Sh. Chander Gaind assured that the administration will give full support to the educational institutions of Patiala district. At the same time he urged that all should come forward to help the needy amid Corona virus.

Mohali 3^rd July 2020

Hon’ble Mr. Justice, Anil R. Dave, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India and Hon’ble Ms Justice, Jyoti Singh, Judge, Delhi High Court participated in a webinar organized by Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) and Association of Jurists in association with Aryans College of Law, Rajpura, Near Chandigarh.

The webinar was organized on the topic Parameters & Limitations on Exercise of Jurisdiction-under Section 9 of Indian Arbitration Act. Advocate Vaibhav Agnihotri was the Moderator. Advocate Gagan Pardeep S. Bal welcomed the Guests while Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA & Chairman, Aryans Group extended Vote of Thanks to the guests.

Justice Anil R Dave enlightened the students of various law colleges of Punjab about the major issues involved in relation to jurisdiction in arbitration cases. Dave while speaking said that Litigation is increasing day by day and so as the work of the judges. He motivated the law students to opt for this field because of its increasing demand. He also gave in-depth analysis of jurisdiction, limitations of court while exercising it in arbitration cases which is much better than going to the Courts other way.

Justice Jyoti Singh discussed various landmark judgments on arbitration. She further discussed about “International Commercial Arbitration”

Students of many Law Colleges of Punjab including Amritsar Law College, CT Institute of Law, Jalandhar, GNDU Law College, Jalandhar; Amarjit Singh Memorial, Patiala; Geeta Institute of Law, BKSM Law College, Moga etc participated in the webinar.

Mohali 17^th June 2020

Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA), Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association (PUTIA) & Punjab Unaided Degree Colleges Association (PUDCA) organized a webinar on Turning Challenge into Opportunity- Private Colleges of Punjab in Post COVID Era.

Vice Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr. B.S Ghuman was the Chief Guest; Dr. Ashish Baldi, Dean & Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, MRS-PTU, Bathinda was the keynote speaker while Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA; Spokesman, Joint Action Committee (JAC) & Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges, Rajpura, Near Chandigarh was the moderator. Sh. Ashwani Garg, Sh. Ashok Garg, Dr. Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, Sh. Davinder Pal Singh, Moga, S. Sukhmander Singh Chatha, President, PUDCA were the special invitees.

Sh. Kishore Munirathinam (Tamil Nadu), Sh. KC Jain (Madhya Pradesh), Sh. Shridhar Vidur (Andhra Pradesh) etc also participated in this webinar.

Dr. B.S Ghuman while motivating hundreds of Edupreneurs of Punjab said that if corona is a threat then we jointly have to convert it to an opportunity. To combat the situation we have to upgrade our existing model of education into an online mode of education.

Ghuman further stressed upon introducing short term skilled based courses which the students can opt and pursue online amid coronavirus from employment perspective. PUCA members also congratulated VC, Punjabi University on NIRF Rank.

Dr. Ashish Baldi said that colleges need to work on blended Learning programs, transforming education from Century old Chalk-Talk method to E-Learning methods, involvement of MOOC/SWAYAM/DIKSHA Portals, virtual classrooms etc.

Baldi further insisted on taking several precautions at campuses including daily screening at entry/exit, regulating the movement of outsiders, students stress counseling, Regular checkups, initial quarantine & isolation facility, Regular Disinfection with strict schedule, personalized Mask & Sanitization kits, Social distancing etc.

Patiala 12^th June 2020

Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) and Association of Jurists in association with Aryans College of Law, Rajpura, Near Chandigarh organized a webinar on “International Arbitration - Challenges in the Execution of the Awards”.

Hon’ble Mr. Justice A.K. Sikri, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi and Hon’ble Ms. Justice Prathiba M. Singh, Judge, Delhi High Court was the keynote speaker. Advocate Shashank Garg, Partner at Advani & Co. was the Moderator. Advocate Gagan Pardeep S. Bal welcomed the Guests while Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA & Chairman, Aryans Group extended Vote of Thanks to the guests.

Students of many Law Colleges of Punjab including St. Soldier Law College, Jalandhar; CT Institute of Law, Jalandhar; Amritsar Law College; Shaheed Amarjeet Memorial Law College, Patiala; Punjab College of Law, Tarn Taran; Aryans College of Law, Chandigarh etc attended the webinar. Dr. Kuldeep Garewal, Law Director, GNDU College & Dr. Yug Khaira, CT Law College also marked their presence.

Justice Sikri discussed various sections of International arbitrations such as the procedure, the implementation and about the grounds of awards. The basic Definition, interim measures related to foreign arbitrations etc. Justice Sikri also distinguished between the Domestic Award & Foreign Award.

Justice Prathiba M. Singh explained the application for setting aside the arbitral awards and also discussed the interim measures. Justice Singh explained about the conditions for enforcement of foreign awards.

Advocate Shashank Garg briefed the procedures of Arbitration, enforcement of certain foreign awards and took up the queries of the students with the judges and cleared their doubts.

Mohali 29^th May 2020

Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) & Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUTIA) urged Punjab Government to give affiliation task of the Colleges to Punjab Technical University (PTU), Jalandhar.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA said that in every big or small State of the Country, there is only one State Technical University and Punjab is a small State and have two technical universities. Kataria further said that as Punjab is already under financial crunch hence investing on two different technical universities for the same purpose won’t be economically viable for a small state like Punjab.

Kataria further said that since last around 20 years PTU Jalandhar is doing affiliation work and PTU has big infrastructure, teams and other paraphernalia to handle all Technical Colleges being the oldest Technical University of the Punjab.

S. Manjeet Singh, Senior Vice President, PUTIA said that Tamil Nadu State Government has merged five Anna Universities of Technology with Anna University in Chennai. This mergence came into effect on 1st August 2012 in which 535 Engineering Colleges of the State got affiliated to Anna University in Chennai to have all the technical colleges under one umbrella and to help the students take up research and higher studies of a global standard in higher studies.

Manjeet Singh further said that Uttar Pradesh is very big State and even in U.P also two technical Universities were made but later on these were merged to form a single University to bring the uniformity in State education, cost cutting and for the benefit of students and parents.

It is to be mentioned that Punjab Technical University (PTU) is much known and popular name throughout the Country. Merging of the two Universities would clear the confusion in the names of both universities.

It’s worth mentioning that around 188 Colleges of 11 Districts are under the Jurisdiction of IKGPTU, Jalandhar while around 110 colleges of 11 Districts are under the Jurisdiction of MRSPTU, Bathinda.

Mr. Rashpal Dhaliwal (CGC, Jhanjeri); Mr. Amit Sharma (ACET, Amritsar);S. Gurpreet Singh (Universal Group, Lalru); S. Gurfateh Singh (Adesh, Gharuan); CA, Manmohan Garg (Gurukul Vidyapeeth, Banur); S. Gurkirat Singh (Gulzar Group, Ludhiana); Mr. Ashok Garg (SVIET, Banur); Sh. Naresh Nagpal (Sri Sai Group, Pathankot); CA Renu Arora (SPCET); Mr. Raman Bhalla (Aman Bhalla, Pathankot); Mr. Harinder Kanda (Quest Group, Jhanjeri): Mr. Manav Dhawan (PGC, Lalru) and other office bearers of PUCA & PUTIA were also present during the meeting.

Mohali 17^th May 2020

Joint Action Committee (JAC) representing over 1600 unaided colleges of Punjab has taken serious note on the non-declaration of results by Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University (MRS-PTU), Bathinda of around 2000 students studying in the affiliated colleges due to the non-payment of funds.

Senior Vice President, Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association (PUTIA), S. Manjit Singh while expressing his concern said that no Government university should hold the result, DMC, Degree of any student due to the non-payment of fees by any unaided college.

Spokesman, JAC and President, Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA), Dr. Anshu Kataria urged Chief Minister Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh; Technical Education Minister, Punjab, S Charanjit Singh Channi and Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Sh. Anurag Verma, IAS to intervene in this matter and save the future of these students.

It is to be mentioned that AICTE along with other top educational bodies of the country are suggesting not to charge any fees from the students and directing colleges to pay the salaries of the staff while on the other hand, MRS-PTU has held the results of the students due to non payment of fees from the unaided colleges.

A delegation of Joint Action Committee (JAC) representing over 1600 unaided colleges of Punjab today met Social Welfare Minister, S. Sadhu Singh Dharamsot. The delegation urged for the immediate release of Rs 309 crore of Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) funds.

Director, JAC & President, Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA), Dr. Anshu Kataria; Director, JAC & ETT Federation, S. Nirmal Singh; PUCA office bearers including Sh. Ashok Garg, Sh. Ashwani Garg, S. Gurkirat Singh etc attended the meeting.

Minister while giving patient hearing Minister assured that State has received the Rs 309 crore of 2016-17 from the Centre Govt and soon it will be disbursed to the Colleges.

It is to be mentioned that out of total outstanding of Rs 1850 crore the Centre has released Rs 309 crore of Punjab under PMS recently.

JAC demands extension of approval atleast for a year ; Future of 112 Agriculture colleges of Punjab on stake

On the one hand where entire World is fighting against the Pandemic COVID-19 and the Centre Govt is finding ways to save the organizations while on the other hand it seems that Department of Agriculture & Farmer welfare, Govt of Punjab is likely to shut 112 agriculture colleges of Punjab from the session 2020-21

Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising 1600 Unaided colleges of Punjab urged the Punjab govt to give extension of approval for at least a year to the agriculture colleges by a year so that students can take admission in the 2020-21 session.

IKG-PTU has not given continuation letter to affiliated colleges

In a letter dated 06.05.2020, IKG-PTU, Jalandhar has not given approval for continuation of B.Sc Agriculture course to its affiliated colleges.

Colleges running agriculture courses fulfilling the norms of Govt Universities

Dr. Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, Director, JAC & President, Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association (PUTIA) said that these Colleges of Punjab started this course as per the rules laid down for B.Sc Agriculture by Panjab University Chandigarh, Punjabi University Patiala, IKG-PTU Jalandhar and MRS-PTU Bathinda. Later, a new act was enacted in Punjab Assembly to regulate the agriculture education of Punjab. A new council i.e Punjab State Council for Agricultural Education was established under this act

Over 3000 employees of Agri colleges would go unemployed

Dr. Anshu Kataria, Spokesperson, JAC & President, Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) said that it was very shocking as the State was imparting education to around 25,000-30,000 students of agriculture and has given employment to over 3000 employees of the State. If these colleges would get shut then a big number of employees would turn unemployed.

Relief couldn't be given to the Colleges because of shutdown due to Coronavirus

Sh. Manjit Singh, Director, JAC & Senior Vice President, PUTIA said that in the last 6 months many meetings of the association were held expecting the issue to get resolved. But amid Coronavirus, no final decision could be taken yet so the Govt is requested to continue the affiliation till the next year.

Future of 112 Agri colleges on stake

Sh. Rashpal singh Dhaliwal, PUTIA urged CM Punjab to intervene into the matter so that 112 colleges of Punjab could be saved from the closure. Rashpal said that we are affiliated with State Affiliating Universities like IKG-PTU, MRS-PTU and Punjabi University and we are following the norms of these degree-granting Universities. These new rules should be applicable to new colleges not existing.

Agriculture course has added revenue to the State

Sh. Amit Sharma, Senior Vice President, PUCA said that Punjab is an agriculture State and students of many other States come for their agriculture education which increases the State's revenue. The closure of these institutions would result in huge financial loss to Punjab exchequer.

Does a college need to buy more land in Punjab to run a course?

S. Sukhmander Singh Chatha, Punjab Unaided Degree Colleges Association (PUDCA) & Director, JAC said that when one affiliating University has given the approval to run B.Sc Agriculture course in 5-acre land then how a new body can increase the land requirement from 5 acres to 50 acres? Chatha further questioned that does a college need to buy 45 acres more land to run a course in a landlocked state like Punjab?

JAC urged CM Punjab to intervene and to instruct the affiliating Universities for the continuation of affiliation of agriculture courses for at least a year.

A delegation of Joint Action Committee (JAC) representing various schools, Colleges and Universities today met Higher Education Minister, Sh. Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa. Sh. Rahul Bhandari, IAS, Secretary, Higher Education was also present during the meeting.

Chancellor, Chandigarh University, S. Satnam Singh Sandhu along with other JAC directors including S. Jagjit Singh, President, B.Ed Federation; Dr Anshu Kataria, President, Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA); S. Nirmal Singh, ETT Federation were also present during the meeting.

S. Satnam Singh Sandhu appreciated the timely steps taken by the Punjab Government to control the spread of Covid-19 in Punjab to a great extent. He said that the students, staff and Management of all the Colleges and Universities of Punjab are with the Govt to help in this situation. The education institutions of Punjab are regularly helping the needy and deprived people in getting the food and medicines.

S. Jagjit Singh, President, B.Ed Federation said that every school and college has paid 10-20 Lac as endowment fund/bank guarantee/security/FDR to the board, affiliating university, central council before starting the institutions. Just for example, one B.Ed college running ETT and M.Ed course pays 12 Lac each course to National Council for Teacher Education, New Delhi (NCTE) and 20 Lac to Punjabi University, Patiala. Thus a small college pays 56 Lac to the University and Council as a security. Now, it is the right time that government should not keep these reserve funds with them which were actually given by the colleges only. Such reserve funds should be released back to the colleges immediately to pay the salaries.

Dr. Anshu Kataria said that on the one hand government is not paying around 1850 crore of Post Matric Scholarship since last 3-4 years, while on the other hand Government affiliating Universities including IKG-PTU, Jalandhar, MRS-PTU, Bathinda, Punjabi University, Patiala, Panjab University, Chandigarh, GNDU, Amritsar are taking affiliation fee, counseling fee, registration fee, student related fee, examination fee, practical charges etc regularly from the colleges.

S. Nirmal Singh, ETT Federation said that since last two years they are following up with the Govt at various levels to implement the fee structure which was fixed by the Govt itself for the Unaided Colleges i.e 68,370/- per year. But the Govt finally reimbursed only Rs 15,600 per year to the B.Ed colleges and for ETT colleges, Govt fees is Rs 40,000/- while reimbursement is only of Rs 8350/- to the Unaided colleges.

Bajwa while suggesting the directors said that due to Coronavirus, no student should get deprived of the education. Teaching should go smoothly via online teaching methods.

A webinar of top think-tanks of the education sector was held through zoom video conferencing today.

The webinar was attended by around 100 top educational leaders on the topic Challenges to self financed institutions in the times of Covid-19.

S. Jagjit Singh, President, B.Ed federation, was the moderator while five renowned educationists Sh. Ashok Mittal, Chancellor, Lovely Professional University (LPU); S. Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chancellor, Chandigarh University (CU); S Charanjit Singh Channi, Chancellor, CT University; Dr. Gurmeet S. Dhaliwal, President, Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association (PUTIA); Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) were the panelists.

Mr. Ashok Mittal and S. Satnam Singh Sandhu said that Chief Minister, Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh took timely steps to control the outbreak of Coronavirus due to which, in the entire country, Punjab is the State fighting aggressively with this pandemic. They further said that the students, staff and Manegement of all the Colleges and Universities of Punjab are with the Govt to help in this situation. The education institutions of Punjab are regularly helping the needy and deprived people in getting the food and medicines. Each college is also trying to convert their hostels to isolation wards under the contingency plan.

S Charanjit Singh Channi while expressing his concern towards the schools said that on the one hand Govt is saying not to ask for fees from the students while on the other hand asking to pay the salaries to the staff timely which is not practically possible.

Dr. Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal said that though the institutions are with Govt but Govt should also get the bailout package from the Centre Govt along with the disbursement of Rs 1850 crore of Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) funds.

Dr. Anshu Kataria said that every school and college has paid 10-20 Lac as endowment fund/bank guarantee/security/FDR to the board, affiliating university, central council before starting the institutions. Just for example, one B.Ed college running ETT and M.Ed course pays 12 Lac each course to National Council for Teacher Education, New Delhi (NCTE) and 20 Lac to Punjabi University, Patiala. Thus a small college pays 56 Lac to the University and Council as a security.

Kataria further added that it is the right time that Universities/Councils should not keep these reserve funds with them which were actually given by the colleges only. Such reserve funds should be released back to the colleges immediately to pay the salaries.

Federation of Self Financing Technical Institutions (FSFTI) & Punjab unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) urged Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) & University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi to conduct the end semester exams through online mode.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA & FSFTI urged UGC to consider this semester as an exception due to the outbreak of coronavirus. He further said that big decisions are required to save time of the students and colleges.

Kataria further added that students, staff and management of all the unaided institutions of the Country are there with the Govt in this situation but at the same time keeping in mind the precious academic session of these students, Govt should plan for the online exams for this semester.

Sh. KVK Rao, General Secretary, FSFTI said that MHRD & UGC should create online data bank of examination for the students giving them 10-15 days window to appear in the online exam as per their choice on the pattern of other competitive online exams as that of CAT, UGC-NET, JEE, IELTS etc so that there shouldn’t be loss of this as well as the next academic session.

It is to be mentioned that there are 993 Universities, 39,931 Colleges and 37 million students enrolled in India.

Education sector adversely affected because of coronavirus

Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) urged Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister of India for the bailout packages for education sector in view of the severe impact of CoronaVirus outbreak on the Education Sector.

Income stopped expenditure continues:

In a letter written to the Union Minister of Finance, Dr Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA said that unaided colleges were already going through a tough phase because of pending Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) towards the Centre and State Government. Kataria further said that because of shut down the revenue which colleges use to get stopped but at the same time expenditure is not stopped.

Around 1850 crore due under post Matric scholarship:

Sh. Amit Sharma, Senior Vice President, PUCA said that the Education sector has been adversely affected due to this problem. Many of the States including Punjab have not been disbursed the Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) funds since last 3 years which Centre Govt used to disburse through the State Governments. Even in Punjab around 1850 crore is due and colleges are facing huge financial crisis.

Employees badly affected as salaries are unpaid:

S. Gurpreet Singh, General Secretary, PUCA said that such a situation has not only created trouble for colleges but also for thousands of employees working in these colleges. Before coronavirus impact salary for 4-5 months was due in many colleges. Colleges were expecting disbursement of post matric scholarship before 31 March. But with coronavirus problem, now this hope is also dashed.

Colleges need waiver of interest and installment:

Sh. Ashok Garg, Treasurer, PUCA said that banks are not giving any moratorium on interest or installment, waiver of interest or restructuring of debt to support the education sector. He said that the education sector needs immediate attention as hundreds of colleges will close if the same situation continues for a few more weeks.

S. Gurfateh Gill, Vice President; S. Gurkirat Singh, Joint Secretary-I, CA Renu Arora, Joint Secretary-II; Sh. Manav Dhawan, Tricity Coordinator, Cherry Goyal, Malwa-I Coordinator; Sh. Monty Garg, Malwa-II Coordinator; Dr. Akashdeep Singh, Majha Coordinator and Mr. Sanjeev Chopra, Doaba Coordinator; Dr. Guninderjit Jwanda, Head Scholarship Dept along with other executive members including Sh. Rajesh Garg, CA Venus Jindal, Mr. Shivom Vashishat, Mr. Mohit Mahajan, Mrs. Manpreet Kaur Bhogal, Dr. Jeewan Jyoti Sidana executive members etc also urged the same.

Federation of Self Financing Technical Institutions (FSFTI), Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA), Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association (PUTIA) along with many other Unaided Colleges Associations have come forward to offer their campuses as isolation centres.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA & FSFTI said that to extend the support, a letter has been written to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Chief Minister, Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh that all the Technical institutions across the Country will not only offer their campuses but also the hostels and paramedical staff of Nursing & Pharmacy for isolation and care.

S. Manjit Singh, Senior Vice President, PUTIA said that in this deep distress situation student, staff and Management of over 10,000 colleges would observe Janta Curfew and would support Modi's initiative in this pandemic situation.

• 107 Agriculture Colleges of Punjab on the verge of closure
• These colleges were opened after fulfilling the norms set up by various Govt Universities of Punjab
• Later, a new council i.e Punjab State Council for Agricultural Education (PSCAE) was formed to regulate Agriculture education.
• PSCAE made tougher norms for agriculture education in Punjab, even much tougher than Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
• Recently, the Council published a Public Notice in which they clarified that the degrees would be valid for the students who are already pursuing their agriculture education in Punjab and would be invalid for the students if admitted from the next session.
• Someone spread the rumour among 20,000-25,000 students of Punjab that their degrees are invalid.
• After the rumour, the agri students of Amritsar College of Engineering & Technology went on agitation. The students of other colleges also in panic.

The case of closure of B.Sc Agriculture course in 107 Colleges of Punjab is not being solved yet. It is worth mentioning that 107 Colleges of Punjab started this course as per the rules laid down for B.Sc Agriculture by Panjab University Chandigarh, Punjabi University Patiala, IKG-PTU Jalandhar and MRS-PTU Bathinda. Later, a new act was enacted in Punjab Assembly to regulate the agriculture education of Punjab. A new council i.e Punjab State Council for Agricultural Education was established under this act.

These rules are even tougher than the rules of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), which is the highest authority in the country for Agricultural Education. Recently, the Council published a Public Notice in which they clarified that the degrees would be valid for the students who are already pursuing their agriculture education in Punjab and would be invalid for the students if admitted from the next session.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) said that Punjab is an agricultural state, 20-25 thousand students of various states in Punjab from North East, Jharkhand, Bihar, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and many other states take admission in various colleges of Punjab every year.

Mr. Amit Sharma, Senior Vice President, PUCA said that on the one hand, lakhs of youth of Punjab are going to other countries such as Canada, US etc to get higher education and on the other hand students from other states are coming to Punjab for getting agricultural education. With admissions from other states, Punjab earns crores of rupees as revenue.

Sh. Ashok Garg, Treasurer, PUCA said that last week because of rumours on B.Sc agriculture degree validation, an agitation took place in Amritsar College of Engineering and Technology. Despite degree validation signal from the Govt, some miscreants are trying to create disturbance in Punjab by spreading such rumours.

S. Manjit Singh Senior Vice President, Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association (PUTIA) requested Chief Minister, Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh to intervene in the matter and that the new rules framed by B.Sc Agri Standards should be implemented for new colleges. The new rules framed by agriculture council should not be applicable retrospectively but prospectively.

If new rules shall be made applicable from the current session then around 107 colleges would get closed down. Not only this, around 3000 teaching and non teaching staff would also lose their jobs. PUCA urged CM Punjab to intervene into the matter so that 107 colleges of Punjab could be saved from the closure.

Punjab is far behind than many other States in the disbursement of Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) to around 1600 Colleges of Punjab. The situation has worsened ever since the Centre has announced this scheme as the State's liability.

President, Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) & Federation of Self Financed Technical Institutions (FSFTI), Dr. Anshu Kataria urged Centre & State Govt to release pending post matric scholarship before 31st March.

PUCA expressed that teaching and non teaching staff may refuse to conduct April examination as 7-8 months salaries are due in many of the colleges.

PUCA has approached many other States to know the status of PMS funds and shared the report of other stakeholders of the Country.

It is to be mentioned that bill of around 780.31 crore was generated for 2016-17 out which 415 crore is still pending. Around 208 crore is due towards centre Govt and 207 crore is due towards State Govt. In 2017-18, Centre Govt declared this scheme as the state liability. As per that, around 567 crore of 2017-18; 437 crore of 2018-19 and around 437 crore of 2019-20 is due towards the State Govt. Though, State Govt has clearly objected that they cannot run the scheme without the share from Centre Govt.

Kataria further added that Punjab accounts for maximum SCs nearly 32-33% of total population. Major chunk of the students of Punjab who can afford fees are migrating to Abroad for their higher studies and deprived youth then searches for the educational options in Punjab.

Kataria questioned that when other States can disburse the scholarship amount in time then why can't Punjab as per the scheme? Moreover, when Govt has fixed cut off dates for admissions, examinations etc then why not such dates for scholarship disbursement? "To overcome this problem, the state should also adopt Credit card scheme for the students on the pattern of Bihar Govt" Kataria suggested.

Senior Vice President, PUCA, Sh. Amit Sharma said that in this dilemma, unaided colleges are not clear who will pay the scholarship amount centre or state? Due to this unaided colleges are passing through a huge financial crisis.

President, Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association, Dr. Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal (PUTIA) said that colleges are not getting fees either from the centre govt, state govt or from the students while our affiliating universities including IKG-PTU, Jalandhar, MRS-PTU, Bathinda, Punjabi University, Patiala; Panjab University, Chandigarh; GNDU, Amritsar; PSBTE & IT etc are charging Registration fees, Admission fees, Examination fees or other Student Related Funds (SRF) and colleges are paying from their own pockets.

PUCA announced that no college would pay registration fees, examination fees etc till the centre and state disburse the PMS funds.

Senior Vice President, PUTIA, S. Manjit Singh said that OBC Students of Punjab are regularly applying for the scholarship but colleges are not getting their dues. In majority of the cases, the students have completed their studies and colleges are still waiting for their dues from Government.

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), New Delhi announced the Approval Process Handbook for extension of Approvals (EoA) for 11,064 existing Technical Institutions/Deemed Universities in the Country and for new upcoming institutions for the academic session 2020-21.

Submission of online applications for the session 2020-21 in respect of all approvals shall begin on 6th February and end on 29th February 2020. The last date for submission of online application with a penalty for EoA is permitted up to 5th March 2020. A physical workshop to deliberate on the new norms is being organized on 12th February at AICTE, New Delhi.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) said that the new reforms brought by AICTE in APH are a welcoming step but at the same time to save the dying Technical Institutions more aggressive reforms are required to be incorporated.

A delegation of Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) comprising President, PUCA, Dr. Anshu Kataria; Dr. Sahil along with other members met Chairman, Punjab State Board of Technical Education & Industrial Training (PSBTE-IT), Sh. Mohinder Singh KP.

The delegation congratulated him on being appointed as the Chairman, Punjab State Board of Technical Education & Industrial Training (PSBTE & IT). Showing ecstasy, Dr. Anshu Kataria said that there is a possibility of survival of the colleges those were on the verge of closure under the leadership of KP.

Mohinder Singh KP while commenting said that the edupreneurs of Punjab have made heavy investment on infrastructure of their colleges. This initiative of the Punjab Colleges has given an opportunity to the Punjabi students to study in Punjab itself rather than moving to Southern part of the Country.

KP further added that to compensate the loss of admissions in Punjab of previous year, board would take initiatives and would highlight the quality education of Punjab in other states like Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Jharkhand, North East etc. He further assured that he will do his best for the welfare of the students and for the revival of the colleges of Punjab.

Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) congratulated Dr. M.P. Poonia, Vice Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi on the extension of his tenure for 3 years.

A delegation of PUCA under the leadership of President, Dr. Anshu Kataria today met to greet Dr. Poonia. Senior Vice President, Sh. Amit Sharma and General Secretary, S. Gurpreet Singh from PUCA were also present on the occasion.

Dr. Anshu Kataria while highlighting Poonia’s achievements said that he is very sincere, hardworking, innovative and visionary person who has done wonderful work for quality education in the Country. After being appointed as Vice Chairman, AICTE, Poonia under the guidance of Chairman, AICTE & MHRD introduced significant reforms in Technical Education benefitting around 10,000 colleges of the Country.

Kataria further said that his extension would give hope of survival to the drowning Technical Institutions of the Country.

It is to be mentioned that Dr. Poonia is presently serving as Vice Chairman, AICTE, New Delhi since 20th January, 2017. Apart from Bikaner and NITTR, he has also worked at M.N.I.T., Jaipur. For his extraordinary services, he has been awarded various National awards.

A delegation of Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) met Prof. M.P. Poonia, Vice Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi under the leadership of Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA. Kataria demanded major reform in Approval Process Handbook (APH) 2020. He emphasized to save dying technical education and Self Financed Colleges of the country for which AICTE needs to come forward to rescue the Technical Colleges.

Poonia assured that without compromising the quality AICTE will do its best for more reforms in APH 2020.

Kataria who is also the Chairman of Chandigarh based Aryans Group of Colleges said that AICTE norms should be applicable on the basis of seats filled instead of total seats sanctioned by AICTE. He added that to get the approval or for the extension of approval, a big infrastructure including land, buildings, equipments & machinery, furniture & fixture, computers, faculty etc is required. On the other hand, the entire infrastructure goes waste when seats are not filled. It is not wastage of investment only rather it is wastage of the national resources.

Sh. Amit Sharma, Senior Vice President, PUCA added that there is 95% contribution of private institutions in providing technical education and in a way, these institutions are creating employment opportunities and playing a vital role in the development of the Country.

S. Gurpreet Singh, General Secretary, PUCA, said that AICTE should come up with new policies and norms such that surplus resources could be utilized. But these days’ Unaided colleges are in a big financial crunch and should be bailed out.

A delegation of Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) met Sh. Som Prakash, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry in which Ex MP Sher Singh Ghubaya and Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA were present.

President, PUCA, Dr. Anshu Kataria said that Rs 415.60 crore of Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) scheme for the year 2016-17, Rs 538 cr for the year 2017-18; Rs 437.19cr for the Year 2018-19 due till now. This total of around 1400 Crore is due towards the Centre Govt which has created financial crunch in colleges of Punjab.

Som Prakash while giving patience hearing said that he will discuss this matter with Sh. Thawar Chand Gehlot, Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment and will get the pending amount released as soon as possible.

Kataria further said that when the funds for almost over 3 years have not been released to the colleges then how the colleges would survive. If the pending scholarship would not be disbursed in time then the colleges would be in biggest ever financial trouble.

Ex-MP Sher Singh Ghubaya said that centre has clearly told that PMS scheme would fall under 60:40 scheme while Punjab Government has rejected this proposal of centre. This confusion between the centre and state government may adversely affect the career of the students as well as the colleges.

A meeting of Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising of 13 different associations held today to take important decisions for the problems faced by Unaided Colleges of Punjab.

Joint Action Committee comprises of Sh. Ashwani Sekhri, Chairman, JAC ; Dr. Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, President, Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association (PUTIA); Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA; Mr. Charanjit Singh Walia, President, Nursing Colleges Association; Sh. Jagjit Singh, President, B.Ed Association; S Rajinder Dhanoa Polytechnic Association; S. Nirmal Singh, ETT Federation; Mr. Jasnik Singh Kakkar, B.Ed Association (Panjab University); Mr. Satwinder Singh Sandhu, B.Ed Association (GNDU); Mr. Shimanshu Gupta, ITI Association; Sh. Vipin Sharma, Confederation of Unaided Colleges Association and S. Sukhmander Singh Chatha, Punjab Unaided Degree Colleges Association(PUDCA).

To give temporary relief from financial crunch to Unaided Colleges, it was unanimously resolved that Joint Action Committee (JAC) would approach the Govt. with a request to defer the various charges being imposed by Govt. affiliating Universities and Board from Unaided Colleges.

Anshu Kataria said that over Rs 1200cr is due under Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) for the year 2016-17 (Partial), 2017-18 and 2018-19. Moreover, 400-500 Cr is likely to become due for Scholarship of 2019-20. Due to which colleges are not able to pay affiliation fees, Registration fees, Students related funds, continuation fees, Examination fees, and other university/Board charges.

Charanjit Singh Walia proposed that Govt. can’t charge these various fees before disbursing the Post Matric Scholarship from the colleges. Because in many other cases the situation is like this that neither student nor Govt. has paid the fees to colleges. On the other hand Govt. affiliating universities/ Board MRS-PTU, Bathinda; IKG-PTU, Jalandhar; BFUHS, Faridkot; Punjabi University, Patiala and Punjab State Board of Technical Education and Industrial Training (PSBTE & IT) have charged various charges from Unaided Colleges.

Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal said that many of these Universities and board charge huge interest on charges for delay in payment by the colleges. But when Govt. doesn’t pay any fine/interest then how Govt. affiliating Universities/Board can charge fine/interest from the Unaided Colleges.

Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) - Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association (PUTIA) and Polytechnic Association highly appreciates the intervention of Chief Minister Punjab in the case of Kashmiri students. They assured CM Punjab that all Unaided Colleges are with him and would do their best for Kashmiri as well as students from other parts of the country.

But at the same time Dr Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA urged Chief Minister, Punjab to issue directions to MRS-PTU, Bathinda, IKG-PTU, Jalandhar, Punjab State Board of Technical Education and other Govt. affiliating Universities that they should not force Colleges to pay immediately or Post Dated Cheque for examinations fees till the Govt. disburse pending 1200cr of Post Matric Scholarship which is due since last 2-3 years.

Dr Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, President, PUTIA also urged CM Punjab to issue directions to the concerned officials of the universities to clear the eligibility of the students whose eligibilities are pending due to non submission of documents because of Curfew in Kashmir.

S Rajinder Singh Dhanoa, Poly Association said that Associations are always ready to support Govt. but at the same time Board never thinks of welfare of the students. Board shifted Examination Centers of around 70 Polytechnic Colleges affecting 20,000 students.

On the other hand, S. Nirmal Singh, B.Ed Federation, said that Punjabi university Patiala and other affiliated universities are charging fine from colleges for the late submission of documents and fees by the Colleges which are highly condemnable.

Meanwhile, Mr. S.S. Chattha, President, Punjab Unaided Degree Colleges Association (PUDCA) said that there is a huge gap between fees structure fixed for Unaided Colleges by the Govt. and in actual disbursed amount. Chattha urged Govt that such issues are pending since 2-3 years which should be solved at the earliest.

A meeting of Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association (PUTIA), Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) and Polytechnic Association was held today in Chandigarh.

Later the delegation also met Sh. Anurag Verma, IAS, Principal Secretary, Technical Education under the leadership of Sh. Ashwani Sekhri, Chairman, Joint Action Committee (JAC). Dr. G.S Dhaliwal, President, PUTIA; Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA; S. Rajinder Dhanoa, Polytechnic Association expressed concern on the shifting of Examination centres by the Punjab State Board of Technical Education & Industrial Training (PSBTE & IT).

Dr. Anshu Kataria while speaking said that 15,000-20,000 students studying in around 70 polytechnic colleges across Punjab are affected with this decision of board for shifting their exam centres to far-flung areas at the last minute.

Dr. G.S Dhaliwal said that due to this decision by the Board, students have to travel 20-30 kms extra to give their exams. The majority of the students belongs to SC category and commute on local buses with daily bus pass service. But it won't be possible for them to afford the bus tickets for distant places to reach far away exam centres. In winters, dense fog and security would be the main issue, especially for the girl students.

Verma assured to look into the matter and the best decision would be taken in the interest of the students. Verma also cleared that in technical education institutions no cheating would be allowed or tolerated in Punjab.

"The education sector of Punjab is passing through its toughest phase because of four major developments in the country"

This was said by President, PUCA & Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges, Dr. Anshu Kataria. While stating the four developments he said that on one hand because of curfew in JK thousands of students are not coming from the Valley for the admissions where as thousands of Bihar students have gone back because of withdrawal of Bihar Student credit card scheme benefit for Non NAAC colleges. Punjabi students are flying to Canada, UK etc for their education and last Ray of hope was Punjab SC students which consist of 35% population of Punjab. Because of nonpayment of Post Matric Scholarship for 3 years the number of Punjab SC students in Punjab unaided colleges is going down. Lastly, because of most of the Punjabi students planning to study in Canada, Australia etc the colleges of Punjab wore a deserted look.

Revoke of Article 370 in JK:

Kataria added that on an average around 10,000 students from Jammu Kashmir take admission in various colleges of Punjab especially in tricity, Amritsar belt and Jalandhar which is approachable and accessible for JK students. But due to the ban on internet/mobile connection and curfew in Jammu & Kashmir after the revoke of Article 370, thousands of students of the Valley couldn’t approach to the colleges for the admissions in 2019-20 session.

Modifications in Bihar Credit Card Scheme:

Bihar government suddenly discontinued the Bihar credit card scheme for non NAAC colleges. Under this scheme Bihar students used to get 4 lakh in 4 years for their higher education which was paid directly to the concerned colleges. Around 5,000 students were studying under this scheme and around 10,000 students were expected to take admission in Punjab but sudden discontinuation of the scheme on 5th July, 2019 has created trouble not only for the unaided colleges but also for the Bihar students. Number of NAAC grade A colleges in Punjab is not even 1% of total colleges.

Delay in PMS Funds:

Sh. Amit Sharma, Senior Vice President, PUCA said that Post Matric Scholarship funds for almost over 3 years amounting to Rs 1400 Crore is due towards the Govt out of which Rs 415.60 crore is of 2016-17, Rs 538 cr for the year 2017-18, Rs 437.19cr for the Year 2018-19. This total of 1400 Crore has created financial crunch in colleges of Punjab.

Amit Sharma further added that the Unaided Colleges are running pillar to post to save their colleges as the Unaided Colleges when doesn't pay their bank loan Dues for 3 months, they are declared as NPA's and Banks start taking legal action against the Colleges/Trusts.

Heavy Immigration to the Foreign Countries:

Kataria further added that every year over 1.50 Lakh student of Punjab is migrating to Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc for their higher studies after 12th. This has resulted into the closure of many old engineering colleges of Punjab.

A delegation of Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) honoured renowned Canada based business magnate and philanthropist, Mr. Sukhi Bath for his contribution in Promoting Punjab, Punjabi & Punjabiyat in a function held at Punjab Bhawan, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The felicitation ceremony was done by the President, PUCA & Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges, Rajpura Near Chandigarh, Dr. Anshu Kataria. Founder Canada International Education Consortium, Sh. Krishna Murty; Famous writers including Sh. Inderjit Singh Dhami; Sh. Krishan Bhanot; Sh. Khushal Singh Gulati; Sh. Kesar Singh Koonar; Organizer at Punjab Bhawan Mr. Kavinder Chand were also present on the occasion.

Dr. Anshu Kataria while appraising Sukhi Bath said that he has been awarded for his continued, steadfast and outstanding service to a humanitarian cause in Canada for the students.

Kataria further said that his foundation has sponsored hundreds of underprivileged youth in shape of their weddings, artificial limb centers, scholarship funds for women in need etc.

Sukhi Bath while thanking Dr. Anshu Kataria said that the Punjab which is in India and the Punjab which is in Canada both are very close to his heart and he will continue serving society.

A delegation of Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) met Consul General of India, Mrs. Abhilasha Joshi at Consulate General of India, Vancouver under the leadership of President, PUCA, Dr. Anshu Kataria. Sh. Krishna Murty, Founder, Canada International Education Consortium was also present on the occasion.

Mrs Abhilasha Joshi welcomed the delegation. Sh. Manjish Grover, Consul, Head of Chancery, Commerce & culture was also present on the occasion.

Mrs Abhilasha Joshi appealed the delegation to spread maximum awareness of MADAD Portal among the students of Punjab. It is to be mentioned that the portal was made by the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt of India to ease the Indian citizens living abroad an online platform in which they can file consular grievances to the Indian Govt.

Krishna Murty apprised consul general about the detailed schedule of the delegation regarding visits to various colleges and universities of Canada. Grover assured full support to the delegation during their stay in British Columbia, Canada.

It is to be mentioned that a 15 member delegation of PUCA was recently flagged off by the Higher Education Minister of Punjab, Sh. Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa with an aim of strategic tie-ups with international collaborations.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges, Rajpura, Near Chandigarh; Mr. Ashwani Garg, SVIET, Banur; Mr. Swinder Singh, Smt. Manjinder Kaur & Mr. Gursimranjit Singh, Sukhjinder Group of Institutes, Gurdaspur; Mr. Mohit Mahajan & Mrs Anu Mahajan, Golden Group of Colleges Gurdaspur; Mr. Nalini Chopra & Mr. Chander Mohan, Kay Jay Group, Patiala; Mr. Parminder Paul Sharma, MGDM Group, Bathinda; Mr. Bharat Sharma, Synergy International Institute of Nursing, Bathinda; Mr. Rajesh K Garg, Bharat Group of Institutions, Mansa; Mr. Kanwar Tushar Punj, Sri Sai Group, Palampur, etc were the part of the delegation.

Higher Education Minister, Punjab, Sh. Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa today flagged off a 15 member delegation of Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) to Canada. The delegation is going under the leadership of Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges, Rajpura, Near Chandigarh & President, PUCA, Dr. Anshu Kataria. The objective of the delegation is to explore the possibilities of strategic tie-ups between various Colleges & Universities of Canada & PUCA member Colleges.

Minister while congratulating the PUCA delegation for its endeavour said that Punjab Government is committed to upgrade the infrastructure, Technology, Course Curriculum, Practical & Skill training in the state to upgrade the standard of Education to meet International standards. This would also help to maintain the equilibrium between the Indian & International standards of education system thereby generating more & equal job opportunities for the youth of Punjab.

Later on, while interacting with the media Dr. Anshu Kataria said that the delegation would be visiting various Colleges & Universities of Canada including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Kamloops, Victoria, Surrey, Abbotsford, Kelowna etc.

Sh. Krishna Murty, Member, Canada International Education Consortium said that in India especially Punjab, Canadian Colleges & Universities are in big demand. He said that on an average around 1.50 lakh students are going to Canada from Punjab every year for their higher studies. The average expenditure on Canadian education is around 15 lakh. With the strategic alliance by the Colleges, students can be migrated with credit transfer option wherein they can complete their 2 years in India and 1-2 years in Canada. With such strategic tie-ups, better money-saving decisions can be made which would be beneficial to both students and colleges.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges, Rajpura, Near Chandigarh; Mr. Ashok Garg & Mr. Ashwani Garg, SVIET, Banur; Mr. Swinder Singh, Smt. Manjinder Kaur & Mr. Gursimranjit Singh, Sukhjinder Group of Institutes, Gurdaspur; Mr. Mohit Mahajan & Mrs Anu Mahajan, Golden Group of Colleges Gurdaspur; Mr. Nitesh K Garg, KCT Group Fatehgarh; Mr. Nalini Chopra & Mr. Chander Mohan, Kay Jay Group, Patiala; Mr. Parminder Paul Sharma, MGDM Group, Bathinda; Mr. Bharat Sharma, Synergy International Institute of Nursing, Bathinda; Mr. Raj Kumar Thapar, SMD Group of Institutes, Faridkot; Mr. Rajesh K Garg, Bharat Group of Institutions, Mansa; Mr. Kanwar Tushar Punj, Sri Sai Group, Palampur etc would also be visiting.

Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) urged the centre government to release pending 415.60 crore of Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) scheme for the year 2016-17. President, PUCA, Dr. Anshu Kataria said that Rs 538 cr for the year 2017-18; Rs 437.19cr for the Year 2018-19 is also due. This total of 1400 Crore is due towards centre Govt which has created financial crunch in colleges of Punjab.

Sh. Amit Sharma, Senior Vice President, PUCA said that when the funds for almost over 3 years have not been released to the colleges then how the colleges would survive.

S. Gurpreet Singh, General Secretary, PUCA said that if the pending scholarship would not be disbursed in time then the colleges would be in biggest ever financial trouble.

Sh. Ashok Garg, Finance Secretary, PUCA said that centre has clearly told that PMS scheme would fall under 60:40 scheme while Punjab government has rejected this proposal of centre. This confusion between the centre and state government may adversely affect the career of the students as well as the colleges.

S. Gurfateh Gill, Vice President; Gurkirat Singh, Joint Secretary-I, CA Renu Arora, Joint Secretary-II; Mr. Rajesh Garg, Coordinator; Bathinda; CA Dr. Manmohan Garg, Finance Secretary; Manav Dhawan, Tricity Coordinator; Cherry Goyal, Malwa-I Coordinator, Monty Garg, Malwa-II Coordinator, Dr. Akashdeep Singh, Majha Coordinator and Mr. Sanjeev Chopra, Doaba Coordinator etc also demanded Centre Govt to release the funds.

A delegation of Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) under the leadership of President, Dr. Anshu Kataria, met Sh. Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs at New Delhi.

Kataria made Anurag Thakur aware about the financial Problems being faced by the small Unaided Colleges of the Country. Kataria further said that if the pending scholarship would not be disbursed then the colleges would be in biggest ever financial trouble and would not be able to survive.

Kataria added that though Education sector is the prime responsibility of Government and crores of investment has been made by the Government on educational Institutions in the Country but still 90% education is under private sectors. Govt is not looking at the problems being faced by these institutes as a result of which these are at the verge of closure. Kataria said that this sector requires fresh impetus of reforms.

Sh. Amit Sharma, Senior Vice President, PUCA said that there is a delay of over 3 years in the disbursement of Centrally sponsored Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for SC & ST etc. while the Unaided Colleges when doesn't pay their bank loan Dues for 3 months, they are declared as NPA's and Banks start taking legal action against the Colleges/Trusts.

Sharma further said that on the pattern of Auto industries, Food Processing industries, Pharma industries etc Education Sector also need Govt’s booster dose for its upliftment.

President, Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA), Dr. Anshu Kataria met Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Sh. Som Parkash I.A.S. (Retd.) at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi. During the meeting they discussed the wide gap between Industry and academia in today’s era.

Som Parkash while discussing the increasing gap between industry & academia said that for the better adaptability, colleges have to work & introduce tailor made courses to polish the students.

For the convenience of students of Bihar and Jharkhand studying near the Chandigarh periphery, Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) urged direct flight from Chandigarh International Airport to Patna and Ranchi.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA & Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges said that Chandigarh and Punjab region is becoming the education hub of the Country due to its peaceful environment. 10,000-15,000 students from various parts of Bihar and Jharkhand are studying in various colleges of Chandigarh or in its periphery.

Kataria further added that keeping the interest of thousands of students studying in the Chandigarh region, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India should start direct flights from Chandigarh to Patna, Ranchi under the Udan (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme which will help not only the students but would help in expansion of Business, Social, Political, Tourism commodities etc.

Sh. Amit Sharma, Senior Vice President, PUCA said that in the last few years Bihar students have stopped going to southern states because of contrition on Bihar students by some local groups in cities like Mumbai, Pune etc. hence students are preferring Chandigarh being the safest and the crime-free city for their higher education.

Joint Action Committee (JAC) compromising of 13 different associations has decided to oppose any forceful physical possession by bank in any Unaided College of Punjab where already Students are studying.

Rs 1400 crore due towards Govt for PMS:-
S. Jagjit Singh, President, B.Ed Federation said that over 1400 Crore is unpaid from last 3 Years resulting into many of the colleges accounts turning to Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), Cheque Bouncing cases, Auctions of the Colleges, Legal Proceedings against the Societies and the Trusts, delay in the salaries and Financial & Mental Stress to the management and staff of the Unaided Colleges.

Colleges turning NPA for default of 90 days payment while PMS due since last 3 years:-
S. Manjit Singh, Senior Vice President, PUTIA said that the Unaided Colleges when doesn't pay their bank loan Dues for 3 months, they are declared as NPA's and Banks start taking legal action against the Colleges/Trusts. On the other hand, Colleges are not getting their sanctioned dues for the PMS from the Govt. from last 3 Years.

Funds for the year 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 totally unpaid:-
Dr. Anshu Kataria, Spokesman, JAC said that the Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) funds for the year 2016-17 amounting to Rs 415.60 crore is still pending towards the Govt. The amount of Rs 538 crore for the year 2017-18; Rs 437.19 crore for the Year 2018-19 and the full amount of the year 2019-20 are fully pending towards the Govt.

JAC seeks CM Intervention:-
Dr. Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, President, PUTIA urged CM Punjab to instruct the DCs of all districts not to allow forceful physical possession by any bank in any college keeping in mind the future of the students and other employees.

Colleges need time for settlement with the Banks:-
Mr. Charanjeet Singh Walia, President, Nursing Colleges Association said that if the Govt has started releasing the funds now then the colleges will take some time for fund Management and get settled.

Walia said that Colleges are declared NPA for the default of 90 days while when the Govt delays the payment for 3 years nobody questions. Walia further added that some part of the funds has been released but the physical procession of the college is not justified. Colleges need more time to settle the dues.

JAC directors including S. Nirmal Singh, Sh. Anil Chopra, Mr. Jasnik Singh, S. Sukhmander Singh Chatha, S Rajinder Dhanoa, Mr. Shimanshu Gupta, Sh. Vipin Sharma, Dr. Satwinder Sandhu etc were also present during the meeting.

“Draft National Education Policy (NEP) is a big threat to “Punjab”, “Punjabi” and “Punjabiyat”. Minister said that Centre Govt. is doing saffronisation of education in the Country. The new education draft policy has been released in every language by the Centre Govt. but not in Punjabi Language thereby neglecting the interest of Punjabi’s.” JAC Directors should meet Chief Minister Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh so that the matter can be taken further to Centre Govt.

This was said by Higher Education Minister, S. Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa during an Education Conclave-2019 organized by Joint Action Committee (JAC) representing over 1650 unaided institutes of Punjab under the leadership of Chairman, JAC, Sh. Ashwani Sekhri today at Hotel JW Marriott, Chandigarh. Dr. Anshu Kataria, Spokesman, JAC; Sh. Jagjit Singh, President, B.Ed Federation & S Rajinder Dhanoa, Polytechnic Association were the moderators of the function.

School Education Minister, Sh. Vijay Inder Singla said that their department has already adopted the positive steps from the NEP for the upliftment of school education.

S. Balbir Singh Sidhu; VC, MRS-PTU, Bathinda, Dr. MPS Isher; VC, Baba Farid University, Faridkot, (Dr.) Raj Bahadur; Secretary Education, Sh. Krishan Kumar, IAS etc were also present on the occasion.

Dr Kuldip Puri, Professor Education, Panjab University, Chandigarh; Dr. Kulwinder Singh, Professor Education, Punjabi University, Patiala; Dr. Kamaljeet Singh, HoD, Education, Punjabi University Regional Centre, Bathinda; Dr. Khushwinder Kumar, Principal, Multani Mal Modi College, Patiala etc were the panelists.

S. Manjit Singh, Senior Vice President, Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association; Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA; Sh. Jagjit Singh, President, B.Ed Federation; Mr. Charanjit Singh Walia, President, Nursing Colleges Association; Sh. Anil Chopra, Confederation of Punjab Unaided Institutions; S. Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, Academic Advisory Forum (AAF); S. Nirmal Singh, ETT Federation; Mr. Jasnik Singh, B.Ed Association, PU; S. Sukhmander Singh Chatha, Punjab Unaided Degree Colleges Association (PUDCA); Mr. Shimanshu Gupta, ITI Association; S Rajinder Dhanoa, Polytechnic Association; Sh. Vipin Sharma, Confederation of Unaided Colleges Association; Dr. Satwinder Sandhu, B.Ed Association GNDU Colleges etc would also be present.

Aryans Group of Colleges, Chandigarh launched "Aryans Special Scholarship Scheme for the wards of Army Personnel" in a press conference held today at Mohali. General JJ Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd) (Ex Army Chief) and Former Governor, Arunachal Pradesh was the Chief Guest on the occasion while Dr. Anshu Kataria, Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges presided over the event.

Under this special scheme, 50 students will be benefitted who would get 50% Scholarship in various courses being offered at Aryans i.e. B.Tech, MBA, BBA, BCA, Diploma, GNM, BA, B.Com, ANM, LLB, BA-LLB etc. Those who are interested in getting this scholarship can call on Toll free Helpline 1800-30000-388 or visit www.aryans.edu.in. This Special Scholarship can be availed by the wards of Army Personnel- All ranks, Paramilitary Personnel, Territorial Army (T.A) Personnel etc.

General JJ Singh said that it is a great gratitude of Aryans Group towards soldiers of the country. He said that soldiers take care of security and safety of the country while in its initiative Aryans Group is going to take responsibilities of the soldiers.

General JJ Singh (Retd) after the launch of the scheme said that this is a great and unique initiative being taken by Aryans Group to help the wards of Army Personnel to study in Aryans by providing them the Financial Support. He added that this special scholarship is very beneficial for the wards of External and Internal Securities who have spent the prime time of their lives in the service of our motherland.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges said that there are various Army Schools where the children of Army Personnel get good Education. But after schooling, for getting Professional education, they have to go to Private Colleges where the Fee Structure is very high. He added that now, new avenues are being opened by Aryans especially for children of Army personnel.

It is to be mentioned that the scholarship was launched by Gen JJ Singh in the year 2014 for the wards of Army Personnel which has now been extended further for the year 2017-18.

A delegation of Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) participated in the workshop conducted by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi for the handbook approval process for the year 2017-18 in Delhi.

The delegation was led by the President, PUCA, Dr. Anshu Kataria. The associations of different States participated in the workshop. The Vice Chancellor's, Registrars, Chairmen, Directors of various Universities/Colleges also participated.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA while speaking on the occasion said that as more than 50% seats in AICTE approved Colleges are lying vacant so the Colleges may be permitted to reduce the intake/number of seats without asking any charges by AICTE which can further help them to reduce their financial burden.

Kataria further demanded that instead of year to year basis approval the AICTE should rather give approval for 2-3 Years to the Colleges so that the Colleges should not go through the approval process every year.

After the workshop while addressing the informal meeting of all the associations of the Country and said that to save the dying AICTE approved Colleges in the Country all associations must come under the roof of a joint National association who can work for the rights of these Colleges.

Sh. Manav Dhawan, Tricity Coordinator, PUCA further demanded that the colleges with multiple disciplines should be given further relaxation in terms of land requirement, faculty, library, lab etc. Reform in these rules and regulations would help in reducing the cost of education.

Dhawan also demanded that keeping in view the interest of the Colleges and changing scenario of the industry AICTE should take initiative steps in giving approvals for the new courses and Skill Development Courses by National Skill Development Corporation to the Colleges.

Sh. Pardeep Kumar, President, Haryana Association; Sh. V.K. Rav, Andhra Association; Sh. Ajit Patel, Sh. A.K Jain, Sh. V.K. Verma, Madhya Pradesh; Dr. Lalit Kumar, Delhi Association, Sh Shridhar, Rajasthan Association; V. Shridhar, Telangna Association; Sh. P.P. Ambastha, Chhattisgarh Association; Dr. Anil Padlekar, Maharashtra Association etc were also present.

Around 1000 Unaided Educational Institutions of Punjab remained closed on the second day of Punjab Bandh also.Joint Action Committee (JAC) submitted memorandum to Chief Minister,Punjab,Sh. Parkash Singh Badal and all the Cabinet Ministers of Punjab at various districts.

Dr. Anshu Kataria,Spokesman,Joint Action Committee(JAC) while briefing the compiled report of all the districts said that if the Government won't release 480 Crore under Post Matric Scholarship meant for SC-OBC students in next 15 days than the ongoing stir would be intensified with the involvement of Staff and Management of all the Unaided Colleges of Punjab.

JAC team of Pathankot Distt submitted memorandum to the Chief Minister,Punjab,S. Parkash Singh Badal; Amritsar team submitted memorandum to Sh. Gulzar Singh Ranike;Barnala & Sangrur teams submitted to Sh. Parminder Singh Dhindsa;Bathinda team to Sh. Sikandar Singh Maluka; Faridkot team to Sh. Mantar Singh Brar;Fatehgarh Sahib and Mohali team to Dr. Daljeet Singh Cheema;Ferozpur & Moga team to Sh. Tota Singh;Fazilka team to Sh. Surjit Singh Jayani;Gurdaspur team to Sh. Bikramjit Singh Majithjia;Hoshiarpur team to Sh. Sohan Singh Thandal.

Jalandhar team to Ajit Singh Kohar;Kapurthala team to Chunni Lal Bhagat; Ludhiana team to Sh. Sharanjeet Singh Dhillon;Mansa team to Sh. Janmeja Singh Sekhon;Patiala team to Sh. Surjit Singh Rakhra; Rupnagar & Nawashahar team to Sh. Madan Mohan Mittal & Tarantaran team to Sh. Adeshpartap Singh Kairon.

Sh. Jagjit Singh, President, Federation of Self-Financed B.Ed college of Punjab questioned "What wrong have the unaided colleges done that they are running from pillar to post to get these funds released from last 2 years which is meant for the students?"

Dr. J.S Dhaliwal, President, PUTIA said that many colleges have been declared Non Performing Asset (NPA) by the banks because State Government has not paid the scholarship amount for 2015-16 year and many more would be declared NPA if Government would further delay in the release of scholarship funds" he added.

Sh. Rajinder Dhanoa, Gen. Secretary, Association of Polytechnic Colleges of Punjab said that earlier to this the Punjab Government has played various tactics to delay the funds by terming 10% drop rate as as "Bogus" or by inquiring the number of SC students a number of times in the Colleges and creating havoc with the unaided colleges by not paying scholarship of more than 2.85 lacs of 2014-15 and around 3 lacs students of 2015-16.

Sh. Amarjeet Walia, Ayurvedic Association further added that now Government is saying that Govt. will reimburse the scholarship at par the lowest fee structure of Govt. Colleges, which is clearly the violation of the central scheme. The Scheme states that the colleges will be reimbursed the paid seat fee, if such fee is decided by the state Govt. So all the unaided colleges shall be reimbursed the paid seat fee to all such colleges where there is a difference of fee in Govt. and private colleges.

Mr. Charanjit Walia, President, Nursing Colleges Association; Dr. Vikram Sharma, Dental Association; S. Nirmal Singh, ETT Federation; Jasnik Singh Kakkar, B.Ed Association (Panjab University); Satwinder Singh Sandhu, B.Ed Association (GNDU); Shimanshu Gupta, Private ITI Association; Gurmeet Dhaliwal, Chairman, Academic Advisory Forum; Sukhmander Singh Chatha, President, Punjab Unaided Degree Colleges, Association are also the members of JAC.

1st day of 2 days bandh was marked successful in which around 1000 Unaided Educational Institutions of 22 districts of Punjab remained closed today. The bandh was called by the Joint Action Committee (JAC), Punjab. To mark the protest, Black Flags on the College buildings and Banners on the gates were also hanged.

Unaided Colleges are on warpath due to the non payment of around 480 Crore by the State Government means for SC-OBC students under the Post Matric Scholarship.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, Spokesman, Joint Action Committee (JAC) said that JAC would submit a memorandum to all the Cabinet Ministers of their respective districts. while describing the pity situation of the Colleges of Punjab, Kataria added that around 2.85 Lakhs in 2014-15, 3 lakh students in 2015-16 and equal number in year 2016-17 have been enrolled under PMS scheme in various Technical, Degree, B.Ed, ETT, Nursing, Ayurvedic etc Colleges in Punjab.

But due to the non payment of scholarship funds by the Government since last 2 years the Unaided Colleges are under huge financial crunch.

Dr. J.S Dhaliwal, President, PUTIA said that earlier to this 7th October has been observed as the black day for education in Punjab and now Colleges would be kept closed for 2 days i.e for 21-22nd October. "The next meeting of JAC would be called in the 1st week of November to decide the next action plan if the full amount wouldn't be released soon" Dhaliwal added.

Sh. Rajinder Dhanoa, Gen. Secretary, Association of Polytechnic Colleges of Punjab said that many states, including Himachal Pradesh, Bihar etc. reimburse the scholarship to the OBC students. Dhanoa questioned when centre Govt. has a policy to pay the scholarship for the OBC students then why it is not there in Punjab?

Sh. Jagjit Singh, President, Federation of Self-Financed B.Ed college of Punjab said that now Government is saying that Govt. will reimburse the scholarship at par the lowest fee structure of Govt. Colleges, which is clearly the violation of the central scheme. The Scheme states that the colleges will be reimbursed the paid seat fee, if such fee is decided by the state Govt. So all the unaided colleges shall be reimbursed the paid seat fee to all such colleges where there is a difference of fee in Govt. and private colleges.

S. Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, Chairman, Academic Advisory Forum, Punjabi University said that the educational institutes should be made tax free. Because by providing the education these institutes are serving the Govt. duty. This is a social cause but there are many taxes and other charges being charged from the institutions like stamp duties, CLU Charges, EDC, Transport taxes, VAT, Building access etc. The rate of power is also very high for institutions as compared to industry. Hence there should be a different category for institutions for power tariff.

Mr. Charanjit Walia, President, Nursing Colleges Association; Sh. Amarjeet Walia, Ayurvedic Association; Dr. Vikram Sharma, Dental Association; S. Nirmal Singh, ETT Federation; Jasnik Singh Kakkar, B.Ed Association (Panjab University); Satwinder Singh Sandhu, B.Ed Association (GNDU); Shimanshu Gupta, Private ITI Association; Sukhmander Singh Chatha, President, Punjab Unaided Degree Colleges, Association are also the members of Joint Action Committee.

Due to over delay and non payment of Post Matric Scholarship funds meant for SC OBC students of Punjab by the Govt., 13 Associations of Punjab have decided to observe Bandh on 7th October.

The office bearers of all 13 associations met today and decided to observe "Bandh" on 7th October followed by hosting a Black Flag in front of the Colleges. The associations decided to submit a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner's in each district to aware them about the situation.

The meeting was attended by Dr. J.S Dhaliwal, President, PUTIA; Sh. Jagjit Singh, President, Federation of Self-Financed B.Ed college of Punjab; Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA; Sh. Rajinder Dhanoa, President, Association of Polytechnic Colleges of Punjab; Mr. Charanjit Walia, President, Nursing Colleges Association; Sh. Amarjeet Walia, Ayurvedic Association; Dr. Vikram Sharma, Dental Association; ETT Federation; Jasmeet Singh, B.Ed Association(Panjab University); Satwinder Singh Sandhu, B.Ed Association (GNDU); Shimanshu Gupta, Private ITI Association; Gurmeet Dhaliwal,Chairman, Academic Advisory Forum; Sukhmander Singh Chatha, President, Punjab Unaided Degree Colleges, Association etc.

Jagjit Singh , President, Federation of Self-Financed B.Ed colleges of Punjab said that Unaided Colleges were asked not to charge any fees from SC/BC students by Punjab Govt and it was duly implemented by all Unaided colleges of Punjab moreover the examination fees of these students too were deposited from college funds but till date despite repeated representation to CM/ Deputy CM/ Secretaries / Directors, Punjab Govt is yet to release 80 crores for 2,86,000 students of 2014-15 and Approx 400 crores of 3 lac students of 2015- 16.

Jagjit Singh further added that if the Government would not take immediate action by releasing the funds till or on 7th October then next action plan would be decided after 7th October.

Dr. J.S Dhaliwal, President, PUTIA urged that Education Industry in Punjab should be made Tax Free as other Commercial Industries. The Colleges should be made Tax free from VAT, CLU,Transport, Construction cess etc so that there should not be any burden on the Private Unaided Colleges.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA says, "In Punjab, OBC Students has not paid single penny since last many years while Himachal Pradesh, Bihar Government etc are paying full reimbursement of tuition fees to the OBC students" due to which the students, parents and colleges are facing hardships.

Kataria further demanded that when other Governments are reimbursing the tuition fees of OBC students than Punjab Government should also reimburse the scholarship meant for OBC students of Punjab.

Representatives from various associations and colleges including Sh. Rashpal Singh Dhaliwal (CGC, Landran); Mr. Gurvinder Singh, (Rayat & Bahra Group);Dr. hakam Jawanda (Bhai Gurdas Group); Dr. Zora Singh (Desh Bhagat);Mr. Harinder Kanda(Quest Group) were present on the behalf of Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUTIA).

Dr. Manmohan Garg, Finance Secretary ; S. Gurpreet Singh , General Secretary; S. Gurfateh Gill, Vice President; CA Renu Arora, Joint Secretary; Manav Dhawan, Tricity Coordinator; Cherry Goyal, Malwa-I Coordinator; Monty Garg, Malwa-II Coordinator; Ankur Garg, Treasurer; Mr. Sanjeev Chopra, Doaba Coordinator etc represented PUCA.

Jagjit Singh was asked to coordinate amongst these 13 associations and to pursue with the Government to solve the problems being faced by these associations.

Due to over delay and non payment of Post Matric Scholarship funds meant for SC OBC students of Punjab by the Govt., 13 Associations of Punjab have decided to observe Bandh on 7th October.

The office bearers of all 13 associations met today and decided to observe "Bandh" on 7th October followed by hosting a Black Flag in front of the Colleges. The associations decided to submit a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner's in each district to aware them about the situation.

The meeting was attended by Dr. J.S Dhaliwal, President, PUTIA; Sh. Jagjit Singh, President, Federation of Self-Financed B.Ed college of Punjab; Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA; Sh. Rajinder Dhanoa, President, Association of Polytechnic Colleges of Punjab; Mr. Charanjit Walia, President, Nursing Colleges Association; Sh. Amarjeet Walia, Ayurvedic Association; Dr. Vikram Sharma, Dental Association; ETT Federation; Jasmeet Singh, B.Ed Association(Panjab University); Satwinder Singh Sandhu, B.Ed Association (GNDU); Shimanshu Gupta, Private ITI Association; Gurmeet Dhaliwal,Chairman, Academic Advisory Forum; Sukhmander Singh Chatha, President, Punjab Unaided Degree Colleges, Association etc.

Jagjit Singh , President, Federation of Self-Financed B.Ed colleges of Punjab said that Unaided Colleges were asked not to charge any fees from SC/BC students by Punjab Govt and it was duly implemented by all Unaided colleges of Punjab moreover the examination fees of these students too were deposited from college funds but till date despite repeated representation to CM/ Deputy CM/ Secretaries / Directors, Punjab Govt is yet to release 80 crores for 2,86,000 students of 2014-15 and Approx 400 crores of 3 lac students of 2015- 16.

Jagjit Singh further added that if the Government would not take immediate action by releasing the funds till or on 7th October then next action plan would be decided after 7th October.

Dr. J.S Dhaliwal, President, PUTIA urged that Education Industry in Punjab should be made Tax Free as other Commercial Industries. The Colleges should be made Tax free from VAT, CLU,Transport, Construction cess etc so that there should not be any burden on the Private Unaided Colleges.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA says, "In Punjab, OBC Students has not paid single penny since last many years while Himachal Pradesh, Bihar Government etc are paying full reimbursement of tuition fees to the OBC students" due to which the students, parents and colleges are facing hardships.

Kataria further demanded that when other Governments are reimbursing the tuition fees of OBC students than Punjab Government should also reimburse the scholarship meant for OBC students of Punjab.

Representatives from various associations and colleges including Sh. Rashpal Singh Dhaliwal (CGC, Landran); Mr. Gurvinder Singh, (Rayat & Bahra Group);Dr. hakam Jawanda (Bhai Gurdas Group); Dr. Zora Singh (Desh Bhagat);Mr. Harinder Kanda(Quest Group) were present on the behalf of Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUTIA).

Dr. Manmohan Garg, Finance Secretary ; S. Gurpreet Singh , General Secretary; S. Gurfateh Gill, Vice President; CA Renu Arora, Joint Secretary; Manav Dhawan, Tricity Coordinator; Cherry Goyal, Malwa-I Coordinator; Monty Garg, Malwa-II Coordinator; Ankur Garg, Treasurer; Mr. Sanjeev Chopra, Doaba Coordinator etc represented PUCA.

Jagjit Singh was asked to coordinate amongst these 13 associations and to pursue with the Government to solve the problems being faced by these associatio.

Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) has decided to observe Punjab Bandh on 7th October. Around 700 Colleges of Punjab would remain closed for one day due to the non payment of SC BC scholarship funds. Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA appealed all Unaided Colleges to observe Bandh for 1 day and host Black Flags on their Colleges.

Dr. Manmohan Garg, Finance Secretary ; S. Gurpreet Singh , General Secretary; S. Gurfateh Gill, Vice President; CA Renu Arora, Joint Secretary; Manav Dhawan, Tricity Coordinator; Cherry Goyal, Malwa-I Coordinator; Monty Garg, Malwa-II Coordinator; Ankur Garg, Treasurer; Mr. Sanjeev Chopra, Doaba Coordinator etc were present during the meeting

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA said that if Government would not take any action on 7th October then the next action plan would be made in the next joint meeting of all associations on 7th October.

It is to be mentioned that a joint meeting of 13 different associations was recently held which was attended by Dr. J.S Dhaliwal, President, PUTIA; Sh. Jagjit Singh, President, Federation of Self-Financed B.Ed college of Punjab; Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA; Sh. Rajinder Dhanoa, President, Association of Polytechnic Colleges of Punjab; Mr. Charanjit Walia, President, Nursing Colleges Association; Sh. Amarjeet Walia, Ayurvedic Association; Dr. Vikram Sharma, Dental Association; S. Nirmal Singh, ETT Federation; Jasmeet Singh, B.Ed Association(Panjab University); Satwinder Singh Sandhu, B.Ed Association (GNDU); Shimanshu Gupta, Private ITI Association; Gurmeet Dhaliwal,Chairman, Academic Advisory Forum; Sukhmander Singh Chatha, President, Punjab Unaided Degree Colleges, Association etc and urged Government to release the funds meant for SC BC students.

Around 700 Unaided Colleges of Punjab are at verge of closure courtesy due to Punjab Govt's futile promises to release Post Matric Scholarship of SC / BC students in time. It is worth mentioning that Private Unaided Colleges of Punjab cater to 95% students of Punjab but most are facing risk of closure in want of funds.

The Joint action Committee comprising PUTIA ( Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association), PUCA ( Punjab Unaided Colleges Association), B.Ed Federation, ITI Association, ETT Federation, , Degree College association, Nursing college association, Polytechnic Association and education Forum met today and decided to take firm action for saving the carrier of SC/ BC students.

Unaided Colleges were asked not to charge any fees from SC/BC students by Punjab Govt and it was duly implemented by all Unaided colleges of Punjab moreover the examination fees of these students too were deposited from college funds but till date despite repeated representation to CM/ Deputy CM/ Secretaries / Directors, Punjab Govt is yet to release 80 crores for 2,86,000 students of 2014-15 and Approx 400 crores of 3 lac students of 2015- 16.

It is to be mentioned that due to non payment of Scholarship amount for SC/ST students Colleges are not able to the salaries timely. Many colleges have been declared Non Performing Asset (NPA) by the banks State Government and many more would be declared NPA if Government would further delay in the release of scholarship funds.

Punjab Bandh to be announced on meeting of Joint action committee in Chandigarh on 3rd October.

Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) has urged the Punjab Government to release Post Matric Scholarship funds for the previous sessions of 2014-2015 & 2015-16.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA said that in the recent reports Sh. Vijay Sampla, Minister of state for social Justice has said that the Centre has already released 172 crore to the State Government for the year 2015-16 but the Punjab Government has released only 44 crores to the Private Unaided Colleges."Why the balance amount of Rs 128 crore has not been released to the colleges when Centre has already given?" Kataria questioned.

Kataria said that Post Matric Scholarship funds has not been fully disbursed for the year 2014-15 while for the year 2015-16 only 30% has been disbursed for some districts while 70% is totally due towards the Government.

Kataria further added that admissions for the year 2016-17 are almost closed and another 500-600 crore would become due in coming weeks for the year 2016-17.

Senior Vice president, Sh. Amit Sharma, said "We cannot deny admission to SC/ST/OBC students. But at the same time we need funds to run our institutions but Punjab does not release the payment on time due to which institutions are facing financial crisis.

Finance Secretary, CA Manmohan Garg said that because of the delay in the payment of PMS by the state, the financial system of many colleges is upset, while on the other hand, if colleges don't serve the debt taken from the bank for over 90 days the account is declared as Non Performing assets (NPA).

Joint Secretary, Gurkirat Singh said that many states, including Himachal Pradesh, Bihar etc. reimburse the scholarship to the OBC students. Gurkirat Singh questioned when centre Govt has a policy to pay the scholarship for the OBC students then why it is not there in Punjab?

Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) urged Government should rescue ailing unaided Private Educational Institutions of Punjab.

Recently a meeting of PUCA was held under the leadership of President, PUCA, Dr. Anshu Kataria. It was decided that a delegation of PUCA would soon meet Punjab Government to make them aware about the problems being faced by unaided colleges of Punjab.

Dr. Anshu Kataria while speaking on the occasion said that as per latest information in Technical sector, around 75-80% seats are lying vacant due to which huge investment and infrastructure in Punjab would now be left unutilized.

It is to be mentioned that in Punjab there are 108 Engineering Colleges, 165 Polytechnic Colleges, 51 Pharmacy Colleges, 232 Management Colleges, 9 Architecture Colleges etc. More than 90% of Technical education in Punjab is under Unaided Private Colleges.

S. Jagjit Singh, Senior Vice President, Federation of Self Financed Colleges of Education said that in 2016, GNDU could fill only 6500 seats against 25000 seats in one and half months which would lead to huge financial loss.

Jagjit Singh further said that after its own failure GNDU has asked Private Unaided Colleges to fill the left out around 18500 seats in week's time.

S. Jagjit Singh further said that Degree Colleges have also observed a steep fall in 2016 admissions due to high Registration and examination charges. "Government Universities have raised these annual charges from Rs 1800/- to 8000/- in last 7-8 years.

"Students are unable to pay such high charges which are being charged by Government Universities leading to major downfall in admissions in these Institutions" Jagjit added.

Similarly in Nursing as per the last year report around 25-30% of the seats were left vacant in the colleges in the year 2015-16.

Manmohan Garg said that due to non payment of Scholarship amount for SC/ST students Colleges are not able to the salaries timely. Many colleges have been declared Non Performing Asset (NPA) by the banks State Government and many more would be declared NPA if Government would further delay in the release of scholarship funds.

PUCA has also demanded that Government should form a high level committee to look into the reasons for the sudden downfall of education Industry in Punjab and urged Government intervention to save the dying unaided colleges in Punjab.

Senior Vice president, Sh. Amit Sharma (Amritsar Engineering Colleges); Vice President, S. Gurfateh Gill (Adesh Group); Finance Secretary, Manmohan Garg (Gurukul Vidyapeeth); Treasurer, Ashok Garg (SVIET); Tricity Coordinator, Manav Dhawan (Punjab Group of Colleges); Mr. Cherry (Vidyarattan); Mr. Gurkirat Singh (Gulzar Group); Doaba Coordinator, Mr. Sanjeev Chopra (HIMT Hoshiarpur) etc were also present in the meeting.

Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) has urged Punjab government to clear the picture on the status of Post Matric Scholarship funds.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA said that Chief Minister, Punjab Sh. Parkash Singh Badal has stated that the center is not releasing the funds, while BJP's minister and state president, Sh. Vijay Sampla has said that the Punjab Government has not submitted the utilization's end use certificates for the previous years resulting in delays. On the other hand, Congress leader Sh. Sunil Jakhar, has alleged the Badal Government that they have diverted the sanctioned scholarships' funds for other purposes.

PUCA requested the Government to clarify the actual position regarding the status of PMS Scholarship without any delay so the students, parents and colleges should come to know about the true facts

Kataria questioned "What wrong unaided colleges have done that they are running pillar to post to get these funds released"

PUCA, has also urged the Punjab Government to immediately release the Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) funds held up for the last one and a half years in order to bring out the unaided colleges from the huge financial crisis.

S. Gurpreet Singh General Secretary, PUCA said that the unaided colleges are doing the job that govt should have done. Over 90% of the work of imparting technical education is being done by the private unaided colleges. He also said that because of these policies of the government the entire education industry is in deep trouble.

Sh. Manmohan Garg, Finance Secretary, PUCA said that many entrepreneurs have borrowed crores of funds from the banks and this delay has resulted in many colleges have been declared as NPAs by the banks" .

To make proper utilization of existing resources available at the Engineering Colleges and Polytechnics, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has launched Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) for technical institutes to impart Skill based training to the students during the off- college hours.

As per the new scheme AICTE would offer training to atleast 100 unemployed youth per year in engineering skills based on the job roles as per National Occupational Standards (NOS) prescribed by Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship under NSQF. Interestingly the additional cost of the course would be born by AICTE itself.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) while welcoming this initiative taken by AICTE said that the Technical Institutes are viable vehicle for conducting such skill training sessions. The step would also strengthen "Make in India", "Digital India", "Startup India" and other such projects involved to develop around 109 million skilled persons by 2022.

Kataria further said that on the one hand such new schemes would help students to get skill development education and at the same time the unutilized infrastructure of the colleges could also be brought under proper utilization.

Kataria further added that on the same pattern State should also set up a committee to access the total surplus infrastructure available in the technical institutes of the Punjab wherein such other courses etc can be started.

It is to be mentioned that the last date for the submission of online application on AICTE portal is 18th April under which all eligible institutions will have to offer skills training for 250 hours to a batch of 100 students based on National Occupational Standards (NOS) in engineering skills. AICTE will give grant in aid i.e Rs. 10,000/- per student.

Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) has requested the State Government to immediate release the funds meant for Post Matric Scholarship scheme (PMS) for SC-ST students in the state. The final second semester examination of the students are starting at the end of the April and colleges are finding it tough to conduct the exams as they don't have money to pay even the salaries & other expenses. It is to be mentioned that around 125 crore is due for the year 2014-15 and above 525 crore is due for the year 2015-16

President, PUCA, Dr. Anshu Kataria demanded that Government should atleast make some partial payment out of 500-600 crore so that colleges can pay salaries to the teachers. Even the Government Universities including IKG- Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar (IKG-PTU), Maharaja Ranjit Singh-Punjab Technical University, Bathinda (MRS-PTU), Punjabi University, Patiala etc are demanding examination fee of SC-ST students from the colleges."How a college can pay to the University when neither the State Government nor the students have paid even single penny for 2015-16 to the colleges?"

Dr. Kataria further said, "Punjab government had already investigated the matter four times in various departments including Sanctioning authority, concerned departments i.e. DPI (Schools), DPI (Colleges), Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DRME) and Director Technical Education (DTE). PUCA is ready for the probe of any college associated with them. If any college found guilty, the scholarship for that particular college must be stopped, but rest of the colleges should not suffer for this."

Finance Secretary Manmohan Garg says, "Although the number of colleges indicted in the inquiry conducted by Government is very small. Just for amount of 30-50 crore, state government has not released Rs 500- 550 crore. It is totally unjustified."

"Many colleges have been declared Non Performing Asset (NPA) by the banks because State Government has not paid the scholarship amount for 2015-16 year and many more would be declared NPA if Government would further delay in the release of scholarship funds" he added.

"If government would not release PMS amount immediately then at the time of admission, colleges might ask for the fees from these students in advance or they would be forced not to admit SC/ST students" Garg said.

"To highlight the issues and problems being faced by small colleges in state, Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) have launched a campaign to meet top leaders of ruling parties as well as opposition parties of Punjab in coming days. Afterwards PUCA will also meet ministers of Centre government of India.

Recently PUCA delegation met with the Technical Education Minister of Punjab. Now PUCA would also meet Delhi's Chief Minister and AAP's supremo Arvind Kejriwal on 29th February.

It is pertinent that due to absence of regulatory body for private universities in Punjab, these universities are starting new courses day by day and giving admissions to students in bulk. As a result small colleges in state are at the verge of closure.

PUCA's president Dr. Anshu Kataria says, "Punjab government has promised many times to form regulatory body for private universities in state, till date no such regulatory body has been formed. Moreover Akali- BJP Government has given assurance many times in assembly regarding the formation of Regulatory Body.

Amit Sharma, Senior Vice President; Gurfateh Gill, Vice President; Gurpreet singh, General Secretary; Ashok Garg, Treasurer; Gurkirat Singh and CA Renu Arora both Joint Secretary, Manmohan Garg, Finance Secretary, Anoop Bansal, head social media; Gurinder Jwanda and Cherry Goel, coordinator; Dr. Akashdeep Majha, coordinator; Sanjay Chopra, Doaba Coordinator would also be the part of this delegation.

On the one hand the states like Himachal Pradesh have formed the Regulatory Body and the entire admission procedure, eligibility process, infrastructure; faculty etc is monitored by that regulatory Body. While on the other hand in Punjab, Private Universities are being not monitored by any Regulatory Body.

"If needed, "We'll the knock the doors of Hon'ble High Court to save the Unaided Colleges" Said Kataria.

Punjab Government is delaying the process of formation of regulatory body for private universities. Not only this government is not working to put a upper cap on the intake capacity of the Private Universities due to which more than hundreds of the small unaided colleges in Punjab are at the verge of closure. Government should immediately form a regulatory body and should fix a cap on the intake capacity of private universities.

Private Unaided colleges should not be covered under this regulatory body as they are already monitored by centre councils and state universities.

This was said by Mr. Bhagwant Mann, Member Parliament, Sangrur during a meeting with a delegation of office bearers of Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA). Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA; Dr. Manmohan Garg, Finance Secretary, ; S. Gurpreet Singh ,General Secretary; Manav Dhawan, Tricity Coordinator; Cherry Goyal, Malwa-I Coordinator; Monty Garg, Malwa-II Coordinator; Ankur Garg, Treasurer etc attended the meeting.

Bhagwant Mann while alleging said that due to the poor policies, the State Government and non intervention into private universities, these universities are admitting students in bulk in technical courses which is further leading to unemployment in the state.

Mann while discussing said that he is not against the private universities but their admission process, administration process, eligibility process, examination process, intake capacity, syllabi, fee structure etc should atleast be checked by some authority as it is being done in case of private colleges.

Mann further said that technical institutions should be meant for quality education and should fill the seats as per their infrastructure, land and resources available to them. He assured PUCA that he will raise voice in parliament regarding the balance payment of SC scholarship of 2014-15 year and full payment of 2015-16 year.

Mann further assured PUCA that he'll raise the issues related to unaided colleges during Arvind Kejriwal's visit and soon will meet Smriti Irani, HRD Minister to bring all the problems in her notice so that immediate action can be taken to save dying education Industry in Punjab.

To raise the issues of the unaided AICTE approved colleges, a delegation of various state associations including Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) recently met with AICTE Chairman, Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe in Delhi. The delegation submitted the memorandum regarding the problems being faced by unaided colleges.

The delegation was led by Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA. Dr. Pardeep Kumar, President, Association of Self Financing private Institutions of Haryana; Sh. Shridhar Singh, Secretary, Rajasthan Engineering society, Jaipur; Mr. Lalit Kumar (Delhi) etc also attended the meeting.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA requested AICTE chairman that as AICTE regulates and allots the intake capacity of private colleges, on similar pattern private universities and deemed universities should be brought under the ambit of AICTE.

Dr. Pardeep Kumar said that in many states the state government has not constituted the regulatory body to control the functioning of these universities due to which many of these universities are admitting the students in bulk resulting into closure of small unaided colleges.

Sh. Shridhar Singh said that in many of the states, the State Government is delaying the process of formation of regulatory body due to which the small unaided colleges are being closed down. On the other hands in Himachal Pradesh, Universities have to seek the approval from state regulatory body for starting any course or increasing seats of any course.

Shridhar further said that a scam of fake degrees of Jodhpur National University has come to know wherein the University has awarded 38,000 degrees and marksheets to students out of which 25,003 were found fake. This shows that some universities are working like teaching shops as their admission process, administration process, eligibility process, examination process, fee structure etc is not controlled by any authority while in case of AICTE approved unaided colleges it is all monitored by either AICTE itself or its state affiliated university.

Listening to all the problems being faced by unaided colleges, AICTE Chairman assured to forward the memorandum to Ministry of Human Resource & Development (MHRD).

"The Government has failed on all fronts to save the unaided colleges. After the mushrooming of the Private Universities now the government is talking about the regulatory body and they want to bring unaided colleges under its ambit but the colleges are already regulated by central councils like AICTE etc and state affiliated University like IKG-PTU, Jalandhar; MRS-PTU, Bathinda etc"

This was said by Dr. Anshu Kataria, President of a newly formed association .It is to be mentioned that to highlight the issues and problems being faced by Unaided Colleges, a new association i.e Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) has been formed.

Dr. Anshu Kataria (Aryans Group, Banur) has been elected as the president of newly formed association while Advocate Amit Sharma (ACET, Amritsar) as the senior Vice president, S. Gurfateh Gill (Adesh Group, Gharuan) as Vice President; S. Gurpreet singh (Universal Group, Lalru) as General Secretary; Ashok Garg (SVIET, Banur) as Treasurer, Gurkirat Singh (Gulzar Group, Ludhiana) as Joint Secretary-I, CA Renu Arora (SPCET, Lalru) as Joint Secretary-II.

To highlight the financial problems being faced by the Colleges, CA Dr. Manmohan Garg (Gurukul Vidyapeeth, Banur) was made Finance Secretary and to highlight issues on social media Mr. Anoop Bansal(Arya Bhatta, Barnala) was appointed as Head Social Media.

To strengthen the membership of the association, region wise Coordinators were also appointed. Manav Dhawan (PGC, Lalru) as Tricity Coordinator, Cherry Goyal (Vidyaratan College, Sangrur) as Malwa-I Coordinator, Monty Garg (KCT College, Fatehgarh) as Malwa-II Coordinator, Dr. Akashdeep Singh(Global Instt, Amritsar) as Majha Coordinator and Mr. Sanjeev Chopra (HIMT,Jalandhar) as Doaba Coordinator.

Dr. Anshu Kataria said that Post Matric Scholarship amount for 2014-15 is not fully disbursed and in 2015-16 also the first semester is almost over and a single penny has not been released yet. In Punjab OBC Students has not paid single penny since last many years while Himachal Pradesh., Bihar etc are paying full reimbursement of tuition fees to the OBC students. Because of the nonpayment/delayed payments to the colleges, the colleges are in huge financial crisis.

"We will first approach government with a request and if our problems would not be solved then we will approach opposition parties including Congress and AAP for the help and would also knock the doors of Hon'ble High Court if needed" Kataria added.

Amit Sharma, Senior Vice President, PUCA said, "We have already started district level meetings with all colleges and by 31st March we are targeting to make around 400 unaided colleges as our members including Engineering, Polytechnic, Pharmacy, Hotel Management, Degree, Education etc.

S. Gurfateh Gill, Vice President, PUCA said that this week the association of the unaided colleges comprising of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan is meeting in Delhi to decide on the strategy to raise these issues on the state and central level.

To highlight the issues and problems being faced by Unaided Colleges, a new association of unaided colleges i.e. Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) is formed today.

Earlier a meeting of many unaided colleges was held and it was decided to fasten the stir against government for its failure to protect and save dying unaided colleges of Punjab.

Dr. Anshu Kataria (Aryans Group, Banur) has been elected as the president of newly formed association while Advocate Amit Sharma (ACET, Amritsar) as the senior Vice president, S. Gurfateh Gill (Adesh Group, Gharuan) as Vice President; S. Gurpreet singh (Universal Group, Lalru) as General Secretary; Ashok Garg (SVIET, Banur) as Treasurer, Gurkirat Singh (Gulzar Group, Ludhiana) as Joint Secretary-I, CA Renu Arora (SPCET, Lalru) as Joint Secretary-II.

To highlight the financial problems being faced by the Colleges, CA Dr. Manmohan Garg (Gurukul Vidyapeeth, Banur) was made Finance Secretary and to highlight issues on social media Mr. Anoop Bansal(Arya Bhatta, Barnala) was appointed as Head Social Media.

To strengthen the membership of the association, region wise Coordinators were also appointed. Manav Dhawan (PGC, Lalru) as Tricity Coordinator, Cherry Goyal (Vidyaratan College, Sangrur) as Malwa-I Coordinator, Monty Garg (KCT College, Fatehgarh) as Malwa-II Coordinator, Dr. Akashdeep Singh(Global Instt, Amritsar) as Majha Coordinator and Mr. Sanjeev Chopra (HIMT,Jalandhar) as Doaba Coordinator.

Newly appointed president Dr. Anshu Kataria said that the Government has failed on all fronts to save the unaided colleges. After the mushrooming of the Private Universities now the government is talking about the regulatory body and they want to bring unaided colleges under its ambit but the colleges are already regulated by central councils like AICTE etc and state affiliated University like IKG-PTU, Jalandhar; MRS-PTU, Bathinda etc.

Post Matric Scholarship amount for 2014-15 is not fully disbursed and in 2015-16 also the first semester is almost over and a single penny has not been released yet. In Punjab OBC Students has not paid single penny since last many years while Himachal Pradesh., Bihar etc are paying full reimbursement of tuition fees to the OBC students. Beacuse of the nonpayment/delayed payments to the colleges, the colleges are in huge financial crisis.

"We will first approach government with a request and if our problems would not be solved then we will approach opposition parties including Congress and AAP for the help and would also knock the doors of Hon'ble High Court if needed" Kataria added.

Amit Sharma, Senior Vice President, PUCA said, "We have already started district level meetings with all colleges and by 31st March we are targeting to make around 400 unaided colleges as our members including Engineering, Polytechnic, Pharmacy, Hotel Management, Degree, Education etc.

S. Gurfateh Gill, Vice President, PUCA said that this week the association of the unaided colleges comprising of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan is meeting in Delhi to decide on the strategy to raise these issues on the state and central level.