The Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC) today said the setting up of Khalsa University Amritsar (KUA) was "the need of the hour" in order to provide quality education and appealed to all political parties to support the move.
The Governing council has come under fire after it proposed to set up a Khalsa University Amritsar.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh had questioned the logic behind this move and apprehended that it would dilute and subvert "the heritage status" of Khalsa College.
KCGC President Satyajit Singh Majithia in a statement issued today said the "concerns" of all including the respected political leaders that "heritage" of the Khalsa College should be protected at all cost, are valid and the KCGC is committed to maintain the "historic character" of the building intact.
He said Khalsa College is run by an elected body of the Council which is a non-profit making charitable society that owns the land and going to private hands is just a "figment of an imagination". The charitable body runs 17 colleges and schools in the state.
"As the same society that runs the Khalsa College and other institutions will be running the University, the question does not arise that the land or any infrastructure of the varsity will go to any individual or any particular family, least to his own, as reported in section of media," stated Majithia.
"We need to generate employment through professional courses thus the university degrees are must. If cities like Delhi or Hyderabad can have 7-8 universities why cannot Amritsar have two Universities," he said while rubbishing the statements that one city should have only one University.
Meanwhile, KCGC honourary secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina said as per University Grants Commission (UGC), the country need 1,500 universities by 2020 and it has just 777 today.
In the state of Punjab alone, eight private universities were established in the last five years, then why KCGC, which has the experience, financial back up and fulfil all norms required for the university as per state government and UGC rules and regulations, is being denied the opportunity to start institution of higher learning, he said.
"Today when the KCGC wants to set up its own University, unnecessary controversies are being raised," he said.
