Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu on Thursday announced a Rs 50-lakh grant from his MPLADS fund for student welfare initiatives at Panjab University at a meeting with newly elected Panjab University Campus Students’ Council (PUCSC) president Ankit Bidhan.The meeting, attended by ABVP leaders, including former PUCSC president Gaurav Attri and Gaurav Veer Singh Sohal, focused on campus mobility, placements and building a startup and AI/deep-tech ecosystem at the university.Sandhu said the fund was earmarked for facilities, including e-rickshaws or e-carts for student mobility within the campus and measures to improve safety for girl students. He asked the newly elected council to identify projects and submit a utilisation proposal.“The Rs 50-lakh fund should translate into visible improvement in students’ facilities and enhancing campus experience,” Sandhu said, asking the council to submit its proposal so the fund “could be taken forward to meet the desired expectations of students.”Sandhu felicitated Bidhan with a Phulkari dupatta, following Punjabi tradition, and congratulated the ABVP on retaining the PUCSC presidency for a second consecutive term — a first in the university’s history for the organisation.“The mandate is an honour, but more importantly, it is a responsibility. The focus must now shift from elections to students to addressing their everyday concerns, improving campus facilities and creating meaningful opportunities for their future,” he said.He credited the win partly to continuity from the previous ABVP-led council under Sohal, and separately linked it to what he called youth support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Viksit Bharat vision, citing its focus on innovation, entrepreneurship, technology and youth opportunity. He added that the result reflected the priorities of “a politically aware Gen-Z” for whom employment, innovation, startups and technology mattered.Job fair, AI centre proposedDiscussions at the meeting included a proposal for a large-scale job fair at PU, strengthening the university’s start-up ecosystem, and exploring an AI and Deep-Tech Centre of Excellence on campus. Sandhu said he would take up these proposals with relevant Union ministries and institutions.“Panjab University is the pride of Punjab and it’s not just a higher education institute. It is an epicentre of Punjab’s intellectual, cultural and democratic legacy,” he said.