Response to Jhankaar poor this year as well

In the six key cultural competitions involving music and dance,only 12 students participated. Surprisingly,for the group song competition,there was only one participant this time. Besides,80 per cent of the seats in the auditorium remained empty throughout the three days.

Aarti Sharma,a PhD scholar from the university,said,“The quality of arrangements and activities at Jhankaar has gone down in the last few years. The students sitting in the auditorium often misbehave with the anchors and distract them.”

Another student from c,Loveleen,said,“Members of political parties have been fighting a lot for the last few months. With slight provocation,they enter into scuffles. To avoid such situations,most students,especially girls,keep away from such gatherings.”

Despite being organised by students for their own fellows,other programmes of the student council have also failed to gather good response. The annual national academic conference,Vimarsh,organised in February this year,could not ensure participation of students from other states.

Jhankaar was first organised in 1975 when Kharar MLA Jagmohan Kang was the president of Panjab University campus Student Council. The festival saw national participation in nearly all the activities,said a university official.