Over delayed principal appointments: Panjab University summons four Ludhiana reps

Panjab University has summoned representatives of four affiliated Ludhiana colleges to its campus on September 11, directing them to explain their failure to appoint regular principals.

The university’s affiliation committee has ordered management members from Gujranwala Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College for Women (Kamalpura), Malwa Central College of Education for Women, and Arya College to appear in person with all relevant records.

According to university communications, governing bodies across these institutions had been issued reminders in 2022, 2024, and 2025 regarding vacant principal posts.

While the university noted that some governing bodies have recently initiated hiring processes, it expressed concern over colleges that had failed to take satisfactory action despite being given sufficient time.

The university has made it clear that no requests for date changes or postponements will be entertained.

The administrative measure coincides with a brewing crisis at Arya College, where faculty members have staged a weeks-long protest demanding a regular principal and the resolution of pending service grievances. Agitating teachers have alleged the management of violating university guidelines by continuing to run the institution under an officiating principal well beyond the permissible six-month limit.

The ongoing protest at Arya College has featured black-badge campaigns, display posters, and extended sit-ins outside campus gates.

Demonstrating teachers also planned a candle march outside a management member’s residence on Teachers’ Day to press for their demands.