Jorawer Singh, Chandigarh, September 26, 2009: Panjab University has sanctioned a sum of INR 10 million to University Business School for creation of new infrastructure. Terming it as an opportunity to rebuild UBS physically and simultaneously enhance its human capital, Dinesh K Gupta, Chairman, UBS felt “Rebuilding of UBS will not be possible without the whole-hearted support of the alumni.” It is pertinent to mention here that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had announced a grant of Rs 500 million for Panjab University, the alma mater of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2009. In recent years, the Punjab government had drastically cut down its share of funding to the university, leading to a major resource crunch for the institution and in turn for the prestigious “University Business School”.
The university, which is funded by the central and Punjab governments in a 60:40 ratio, seems to tide over its financial crunch with the latest grant announced by the finance minister. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did his graduation and post-graduation in economics from this university in the 1950s. The Punjab government, after initially agreeing to let Panjab University become a central university, backed out from the move last year saying that the step would make its claim to Chandigarh weaker.