The request comes prior to the Board of Management (BoM) meeting, which is scheduled to be held tomorrow. One of the probable candidates selected for the post of Director Research, Dr Gurwatan Singh Meeyanpuri, has requested a two-year extension. Meeyanpuri, who has come from the University of Winconsin, has just six months left for his retirement.

PAUTA general secretary Mukesh Siag said, “ PAUTA president Dr M S Mahal will also attend the meeting though the names of selected deans (Dean of Agriculture and Dean College of Home Science) have not been announced as yet. We will oppose any kind of extension as this will set a wrong precedence for more such cases.”

Siag added, “We have also urged the minister to bail out the university from its pension crunch. We have not paid pensions for the last two months and if the situation continues this will result in litigation for the university.”

The PAUTA delegation has also asked the minister to stop sale of the varsity land as desired by the state government.

Meanwhile, the much-awaited BOM meeting in which two deans and a doctor had to be appointed has led to another twist in the tale. The names of candidates selected for these three posts have been left vacant. Instead the bio-data of all the candidates were attached with the agenda that was released in the meeting. A senior PAU official on the condition of anonymity said, “ This has probably been done keeping in mind the ruckus that was created over the selection of Dean College of Home Science. The candidate who was not selected created a big scene in the meeting. So to avoid any kind of controversy they played safe this time.”