Central University of Punjab, Bathinda

About College:

During the Eleventh Five- Year Plan, there was a proposal put forward for the created of several more central universities, to tackle the shortage of quality higher education. It would also lessen the financial burden which was being created thanks to the burgeoning of private education. The proposal was then accepted and the decision was taken for the creation of twelve more such central universities, all in different states. These new central universities would come up in the states of – Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Odisha, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Rajasthan. In addition, three more existing universities in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand were to be upgraded to central university status. Admissions to all these universities is via the Central University Common Entrance Test (CUCET). Special provisions here are also made for the admission of foreign students. 

The Central University of Punjab is located in the city of Bathinda. It was established in 2009. At present, the university is operating on a 37- acre campus within the city, but soon to move out to its permanent 500- acre campus just outside the main city. There are eleven schools within the campus which take care of all the academics. Each of these eleven schools have a school board to go with it which will decide on aspects such as pedagogy and curricula. Within each school lie multiple other departments as well. The largest one is the School of Basic and Applied Sciences. Within this, there are departments for- Animal Sciences, Applied Agriculture, Chemical Sciences, Computational Sciences, Physical Sciences, Plant Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences & Natural Products, Biochemistry & Microbial Sciences and for Mathematics & Statistics. Another important school is the School of Languages, Literature and Culture. This has the Department of Hindi and the Department of Languages & Comparative Literature. 

The other schools here are named after- Education, Engineering & Technology, Environment & Earth Sciences, Global Relations, Health Sciences, Legal Studies & Governance, Social Sciences, Management and Information & Communicative Sciences. The university is into much more than merely academics. So, in order to instil the values that make for more holistic learning, the university has also created two specific chairs. One of them is named after Baba Satguru Ram Singh. And the other is the S. Guru Gobind Singh Chair. The teachings of the two great saints are honed among the students through these special chairs. One of the unique initiatives taken here at the Central University of Punjab is to equip students with coaching classes for competitive exams. There is a separate Competitive Examination Cell where students are trained on topics which will help them crack entrance exams such as the UGC- NET. So, subjects such as General Knowledge, Current Affairs, Data Interpretation, Research Aptitude, Reasoning and ICT are coached here. 

Research is another important aspect in this university. That explains the creation of the IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) Cell. Among the newly opened central universities, the one in Bathinda has widely been considered to have the greatest research output. This is especially true for the science wing. A number of faculty from the Central University of Punjab have contributed towards peer- reviewed scientific research. A similar approach is taken with the students, who are also forever encouraged to hone their research credentials. For this the right infrastructure is needed, and the university has not been lagging behind in this. Laboratories, a growth house, screen house, mass spectrometer, work stations and the latest computers are all equipped in. A large mono wave equipment is also available. A Central Instrumentation Laboratory is the major central research facility here. Some of the key areas where research has taken place here are- genomics, cancer, informatics and the environment. These areas often overlap, so the teams work in collaboration. The university has also won some externally funded research projects. There is one programme in collaboration with the JC Bose Fellowship. In addition, several government- funded projects have also come along. 

Regular workshops and events are also held at the Central University of Punjab in Bathinda. Lectures have been imparted by external experts as well in different areas. A lot of fun events also take place year- round here. These are organized by the specific clubs and committees. All this has helped the university be consistently ranked high up across the platforms. The university has been ranked 65th all India in the NIRF (National Institutional Rankings Framework). It has also been accredited by the NAAC (National Assessments and Accreditation Council). The university also brings out an annual quality assurance report. A separate IQAC (Internal Quality Assurance Cell) has been created to this end, to ensure that all the terms of the NAAC are complied with. The Careers 360 magazine has given a AAA+ rating as well.