It would not be right to compare Panjab University with IITs and IIMs: Arun Kumar Grover

Interview with Panjab University Vice-Chancellor

Panjab University is on a high. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2013-14 has listed it as the top Indian university. While none of the Indian universities or institutes features in the top 200 list, Panjab University, a new entrant with alumni like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and human resource development minister Kapil Sibal, is placed at 226 among 400 institutions worldwide - higher even than the Indian Institutes of Management and Indian Institutes of Technology. Panjab University Vice-Chancellor Arun Kumar Grover speaks with Veenu Sandhu about the rating and his vision for the university

How do you feel about this news? And how will this benefit the university?

I have been a student of this university and was here till 1972. I returned to it last year, four decades later, as its vice-chancellor. I am naturally very happy with this news. It is very motivating. But a lot is to be achieved.

This is a godsend opportunity to work for the Vision 2020 document for the university and make people conscious about it. This document talks about reorganising the university on the lines of the best universities in the world. It talks about, among other things, integrated master's and PhD programmes which will benefit students and improve the quality of research. This is what the Delhi University vice-chancellor (Dinesh Singh) is also trying to do by introducing the four-year undergraduate programme. There is resistance to that because we have become used to our lazy ways. But this really is the way ahead. We unveiled the Vision 2020 document last year in October. I thought the timing was ideal. It was 65 years since India became independent. And the university had been in existence for 65 years before that. (Panjab University was established in 1882 in Lahore).

The university has scored high on research. What kind of research work is happening in the university? And do you think PU really scores over the IIMs and IITs?

The university has 3,000 research scholars at the moment. And what's heartening is that of these, 2,000 are girls. The university has always done well in research work. Several departments are doing well like chemistry, mathematics, physics, zoology, biochemistry political science, commerce and English. The law school is also reasonably good. But it would not be right to compare Panjab University to the IITs, IIMs, or the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore or Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University. Each is playing a different role.

This year, the university awarded 340 PhD degrees. So if we are bringing out about 400 research paper every year, we ought to have some good work to show.

Has the university recorded an increase in campus placements, both in terms of inductions and the remuneration offered to students?

In the last few years, campus placement has shown good results, but there are other factors at play too, such as the job market. We hope the latest ranking will bring more companies to the university to seek out its students. The mood on the campus is upbeat. Students and teachers, all are happy.

Has the university also worked on improving its infrastructure?

Yes, but more needs to be done. For example, students who come to study at Panjab University from outside Chandigarh - and there are many who do - need proper accommodation. You cannot have two boys or two girls to a room. That's ridiculous.

What is the student-faculty ratio?

We have 800 teachers and 13,000 students. That's about 1:15, which is not so bad. But we can still bring it down to about one teacher for 10 students.

What is your vision for the university to ensure that it achieves greater targets?

We need to figure out how the university can support the research scholars. Suppose we want to support 1,000 outstanding or promising scholars, we will require about Rs 2 lakh per scholar per year. That will work out to about Rs 20 crore.

The university has an annual budget of Rs 400 crore. So Rs 20 crore isn't that much. If somehow we can generate 10 per cent of the money from, say, the corporate sector, we will have enough to support the scholars. The staff and the departments, meanwhile, are working on their own to enrich their departments and the research happening there. (Though there is a regular monthly fellowship, in case the money gets delayed, worrying about funds can be demotivating for students. The university, says an official, has approached the State Bank of India for education loans to be extended to students on Panjab University's guarantee).