This was the outcome of the two-day meeting of top Punjabi scholars, university dons and research fellows chaired by Vice-Chancellor Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia. Others who attended the meeting include senior fellows, junior fellows and honorary fellows working on different projects. Another significant decision taken was to launch a series of television documentaries on the lives of eminent Punjabi men of letters.

The Vice-Chancellor, in his introductory remarks, stressed the imperatives of academic excellence in university research comparable to international standards, new vistas of research, authenticity of research products and periodical reports thereof, culminating in an overview of research done by panels of eminent scholars and experts in the field.

He stressed the need for orienting research towards the challenges of the 21st century so as to make the university academics socially relevant. He said the research done should be reflected in the university teachings so as to bridge the gap between research and teachings.

Making suggestions for the current and new projects, Rattan Singh Jagi, entrusted with the preparation of basic source history of Punjabi Literature in ten volumes, expressed hope that this monumental work would be completed by 2000, before the end of the century. The source history, the first of its kind, would cover the ancient, medieval and modern periods right up to the end of the present century.

The Encyclopedia of Etymological Roots of the Diction of Sri Guru Granth Sahib was another project that came up for discussion. It was stressed that while preparing this encyclopedia, the semantic transformation of meanings and connotations of words used in the Sikh scripture, in the context of the Gurubani thought system, must be kept in view and an introduction of around 100 pages relating to such semantic transformation incorporated in it.

This project would take into consideration the earlier Shabdarth Kosh, along with modern interpretational research. Further, projects relating to the sacred hymns of Guru Teg Bahadur, Bachittar Natak of Sri Guru Gobind Singh and of Saint Kabir have also been taken up through Gurcharan Singh who has been entrusted with the task of preparing Tuk-Tatkara and Anukramnika Kosh.

Among the eminent scholars who attended the meeting were Prof Pritam Singh, Dalip Kaur Tiwana, Kirpal Singh Kasel, Santokh Singh Dhir, Balkar Singh, Ryall, B.S. Bhatia and K.S. Grewal, Director, Planning and Development, Punjab.