DW BUREAU / MOHALI The Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) has urged the Punjab Chief Minister to intervene as 100 of colleges are likely to close in one month in Punjab. While giving information, PUCA members said that they were thankful to Suresh Kumar, Chief Principal Secretary to the CM, for specially taking this matter last year to cabinet and granting extension of one year but now after a few months the extension will be over and the future of these agricultural colleges will hang in the air. Dr Anshu Kataria, President, PUCA and Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges, said that there are more than 100 agricultural students in Punjab imparting education to around 25,000-30,000 students of agriculture and has given employment to over 5000 employees of the State. If these colleges get shut the students would be upset and a large number of employees would become unemployed. Rashpal Singh Dhaliwal, Executive Member, PUCA, said that Punjab is an agricultural state and not only the entire country is dependent on Punjab for varied crops but the state is also a step ahead in imparting agricultural education along with research for students belonging to the entire country as well as from abroad. Amit Sharma, Vice-President, PUCA, said that the norms and standards for agriculture courses led by the Punjab government are even tougher than the rules of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the highest authority in the country for agricultural education. The norms should be relaxed so that more institution and aspiring students can pursue their agriculture education. It is to be mentioned that in 2020 also because of COVID-19, the Punjab government had given one year extension to the colleges and this year also with the rising pandemic it was tough for the colleges to fulfill all norms in such a short period. (editor@dailyworld.in)