Outgoing V-C R P Singh has suspended 19 teachers, including the head of a department, on charges of not taking classes, irregularities in work and financial embezzlement.

The orders issued yesterday by the V-C on the last day of his tenure have evoked a strong reaction from the LU Teachers Association (LUTA), which has called a general body meeting tomorrow to discuss the issue.

Earlier, Singh had been in news for taking stern action against the self-professed student leaders owing allegiance to different political outfits.

Brar added that none of the suspended teacher met him. “I’ll not follow any political line. Improvement in teaching will be my first priority. I will take classes myself as I like teaching. And those (teachers) who support this objective are on the positive side.”

He said he will like to start personality development classes for the students and communicate with them regularly. “Students come from diverse background. They face difficulties at interviews or competition. We will have to train our students for the competitive job world.”

He said the varsity will also open new centres of excellence in the field of science and management and more self-financing courses to increase the revenue. “We’ll talk to the government for upgrading the varsity. We’ll also try to upgrade classrooms and existing infrastructure on the campus, including laboratories.”