At a time when higher education in India is being reshaped by policy reforms, technological disruption, and evolving industry demands, Panjab University (PU) stands at a crucial crossroads. Professor (Dr) Renu Vig, who is discharging the responsibilities of Vice-Chancellor of the university, spoke to Anurag Kumar on various issues, including balancing PU’s rich academic legacy with the need for modernisation, aligning curricula with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, bolstering research and innovation, and navigating the complex dynamics of campus politics. In this candid interaction, the professor also reflects on employability, student activism, and the challenges of leading one of the country’s premier multidisciplinary universities.
Q: What is your long-term vision for Panjab University in an era of rapid changes taking place in higher education?
A: The mandate for any higher educational institution is to provide holistic education to the students. It is our mandate to ensure that, upon completing their education, students possess the necessary skills to be employable or financially independent. Plus, their value system should also be strong. So, we have to maintain a balance between these two. Panjab University has departments in almost every field. We have science departments, engineering departments, law, pharmacy, medical science, social science, languages, and management. As far as the students of management, engineering, pharmacy, and science are concerned, they can get jobs once they complete their degrees. There are some other departments, like languages and social sciences, where getting a job is not easy. The engineering, science, and management departments generally ensure that more than 80 per cent of the students graduate with jobs in hand. Besides, higher education institutions have to focus on research and innovation, too. The faculty of Panjab University is involved in meaningful research. The students, as well as the faculty, are able to publish their research work in high-impact-factor journals. And they have collaborations with national as well as international research labs. At present, Panjab University has around 100 successful start-ups on the campus.
Q: How do you balance Panjab University’s rich legacy with the need for modern reforms?
A: Panjab University has always been upgrading its infrastructure. We have a sophisticated analytical instrumentation facility, which was set up by DST (Department of Science & Technology). There are 15 Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facilities (SAIF) centres in the country. Panjab University’s SAIF centre is the best. We analyse the maximum number of samples in a year. We have a large number of users who are from the industry. We have sophisticated state-of-the-art instruments in our instrumentation facility. We also have the Centre for Industry Institute partnership programme, which collaborates with the industry. We have a Technology Enabling Centre, which collaborates with the industry. They try to find out the problems of the industry. In fact, the Technology Enabling Centre has created a database of the problems that the industry is facing. And then we apprise the academia of those problems so that academia can give solutions for the problems the industry is facing. Similarly, academia has also produced some technologies. They have some patents. We bring that to the knowledge of the industry. So, if the industry is willing to commercialise them or adopt those technologies, then they are also encouraged to do that. The Engineering Institute was set up in 2002. The Dental Institute was set up in 2005. Then we have centres that are in emerging areas in sciences, like the Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. We have the Institute of Forensic Science. We have the Centre for Medical Physics. We have the Centre for Nuclear Medicine. For these centres, we collaborate with medical institutes like PGI and Fortis, where, for some part of the programme, students are given theory lectures on the campus. And for practical work, they are going to the hospitals to gain practical knowledge. In our courses, we have a provision for an internship. Also, students can go and spend six months in the industry. The Centre for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship regularly organises one-week and two-week programmes for the industry. They organise programmes on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, printed circuit boards, and how they are fabricated, and in the areas of finance and accounting. We ensure that the students are well-equipped with the techniques that the industry is using.
Q: How is Panjab University aligning its curriculum with the National Education Policy 2020?
A: Panjab University started with the adoption of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in 2023. From the 2023-24 session, we adopted the National Education Policy on the campus. We changed our curriculum of undergraduate programmes according to the requirements of the National Education Policy. Right now, our curriculum for undergraduate programmes has different verticals, like we have majors, minors, multidisciplinary courses, ability enhancement courses, skill enhancement courses, and value-added courses. We have taken care of all the verticals suggested in the NEP. Panjab University has around 200 affiliated colleges. We have implemented the National Education Policy in our affiliated colleges from the session 20-24 onwards. We have given multiple entries and multiple exits to our students. So, they can exit the programme with a certificate, diploma, three-year degree, or they can continue with the honours programme for four years. So, all these options are there. From the 2026-27 session, we are going to introduce a new curriculum for the master’s programme. We will have a provision of two two-year master programmes from the 2026-27 session onwards. And from the 27-28 session, we will also introduce a year-long master’s programme. So, we have integrated the UG, PG, and PhD programmes according to the National Education Policy 2020.
Q: Do you agree that the education system in India is very theoretical compared to Western countries and less practical? And as a result, we fail to inculcate skills in our youth.
A: Actually, you know, this debate has been going on, has been there since I started my career, I would say, in the early 80s. There is a lag between what we teach in our curriculum and what the industry is doing. And academia has maintained that our job is to build a strong foundation for the students. So, we are doing that. And the skill requirement, I would say, of industry is different for different industries. But now in the curriculum, as I mentioned earlier, we have this facility of a six-month apprenticeship or internship where the student can go to a research lab, research organisation, or industry.
Q: Should we allow elections in universities?
A: In technical institutes in India, there is no politics. There are no student ele ctions. But in a multidisciplinary university like Panjab University, I feel that it is divided into two islands. On one island is this set of students who are into activism and politics. On the other island are students who are focused on learning, acquiring skills, and also contributing to community engagement. In Panjab University, there is a student election, there is an election for the teachers’ association, there is an election for the staff association, and there is an election for the governing body also. So, there is an election at all levels.
Q: Recently, Panjab University witnessed protests. Your comment on that.
A: I told you that in Panjab University, there is an island where students remain students for almost, you know, most of their life. Panjab University has produced many politicians who were also involved in student politics, and later on, they became politicians at the regional or national level. I told you that for our governing body, there is also an election. There are some seats that are for the graduates of Panjab University. We call it the graduate constituency. Fifteen members of the governing body come from the graduate constituency. There are some students whose agenda is to be a member of the governing body of Panjab University. The students with that kind of outlook were involved in the agitation because they wanted the system of election, especially from the graduate constituency, to be restored. The reforms that took place with respect to our Senate – in those reforms, the graduate constituency seats were reduced to zero. And so, these graduates who want to be members of the governing body were basically protesting against the reforms. The government agreed to their demands and withdrew the notification. And the election schedule has been announced.