Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged the Union Human Resources, Development, Communications & Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal to immediately issue directions to the University Grants Commission and the deemed Thapar University to maintain territorial quota of 50% in Punjab as prevalent in the past also. The Chief Minister in a letter to Mr. Sibal sought his personal intervention to redress this genuine grievance of the state to ensure that no step motherly treatment was meted out to Punjab students by the Thapar University or UGC.Mr. Badal apprised the Union HRD Minister that recently the Deemed Thapar University Patiala had taken a decision in their meeting of Board of Governors (BOGs) on February 24, 2012 under item 76.18 whereby while citing the UGC guidelines they have decided to de-reserve 50% of the seats for the Under Graduate Courses which were otherwise being filled up earlier out of the quota meant for students belonging to Punjab State. Mr. Badal pertinently mentioned that Thapar Institute which had come up as an Institute of Excellence was solely on account of contributions made by the State and thereafter giving them grant-in-aid and the other financial assistance under various government schemes. The Deemed Thapar University is not in the present shape of its own but definitely due to the active financial and in kind support of the State Government. Mr. Badal bemoaned that with this decision of the BOGs, the interests of the students of the State have been sacrificed /compromised which in no way was acceptable to the State of Punjab. The Chief Minister also pointed out that the other deemed universities like NIT, Jalandhar and Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal weee having and continuing 50% seats reserved as State quota under the umbrella of UGC only. In the city of Chandigarh itself, the Punjab Engineering College which was again the deemed university, was also having 50% territorial quota for the students of Chandigarh city alone, adding Mr. Badal said the decision of the BOGs is without any intimation, consent or approval of the State.