“We got an overwhelming response from the Punjabis and Punjabi University alumni settled abroad to various schemes introduced for the overall development of Punjabi and for the welfare of underprivileged students,” said Jaspal Singh, Vice-Chancellor of the university.

Singh, who recently returned from the USA and Canada, said his visit was aimed at strengthening Punjabi University’s association with its well-wishers.

The Punjabi community in these two North American countries largely appreciated the steps taken by the university towards furthering the cause of development of Punjabi language, art and culture, and those aimed at taking higher professional and technical education to the doorsteps of the rural poor, said Dr Jaspal Singh.

They promised all help to promote the Golden Heart Scholarship Scheme of the university, which extends financial help to the engineering students at Yadavindra College of Engineering at Talwandi Sabo, he added.

The visit, he said, also generated a lot of scope for forging future tie-ups and signing MoUs with other reputed Canadian, US universities and institutions of higher learning in media studies. The Punjabi University and Wilkes University, Pennsylvania, also signed an MoU to explore the possibility of developing a programme called “Engineering Management Integrated Programme”, Singh said.