Professor Rajesh Gill make her third winning hat-trick and elected as the president for Punjab University Teachers’ Association (PUTA).
Rajesh Gill from Sociology department won by a margin of 75 votes against Jayanti Dutta from the HRDC.
A total of 589 votes were cast by the faculty members at the PU’s Law Auditorium. Rajesh Gill bagged 323 votes while Jayanti Dutta gain 248 votes. The total number of invalid votes were 187.
Rajesh Gill is the first women in the history to make a hat-trick and elected as a president of PUTA.
On achieving the grand victory Gill said, “As a woman I feel on top of the world. With the achievement, has come a responsibility to stay true to the faith that the community has shown in me.”
Mritunjay Kumar is elected as the vice- president of the teacher’s association.
Kumar from AC Joshi Library department won by a margin of 143 votes by getting a total 355 votes against Sukhbir Kaur from the Zoology department who received 212 votes.
JK Goswamy from the UIET won by 148 votes against Ashok Kumar from the Hindi department. Goswamy received a total of 360 votes against Kumar who got 212 votes.
After the election results declaration, the newly elected PUTA members addressed the media. Rajesh Gill said, “ The two most important things they will purse for the benefit of the university are Seventh Pay Commission’s implementation and the central status for the university.” She added, “Each member of the PUTA will continue to work to the best of their capabilities, as we seek the teacher’s support for moving ahead.”
Mohammed Khalid : only one win from the rival camp
Mohammed Khalid from Evening Studies became the only member from Jayanti Dutta’s team who won a post against the Gill’s team in the PUTA elections.
He won the post of group 4 executive member against Simran Kaur of Evening Studies. Khalid received 297 vote while Simran got 269 votes.
Khalid said, “Whether I come in the executive or someone else post at the end we have to work for the teachers. If I feel that PUTA is running away from its responsibilities, I will have to correct it. If I feel that they are not sticking to the agenda for which they have contested, then naturally, as a member of the executive, I will have to remind them about it.”