How Centre’s Downsizing of Panjab University Senate Has Sparked Larger Debate on Democracy & Federalism
Chitleen K Sethi | 03 November 2025 | The Print
The central government’s decision to dissolve the Senate and Syndicate of Panjab University and replace them with nominated bodies through an executive notification has triggered a political and academic uproar in Punjab. The 28 October notification amends the Panjab University Act, 1947, reducing the university’s top governing body from a 91-member body to 24, while abolishing the graduates constituency completely and replacing its elected Syndicate with a largely nominated structure.
The move comes almost a year after the Senate’s term ended 31 October last year and no move was made to hold fresh elections—a delay that many political leaders and faculty members had warned were a precursor to such an overhaul…