A large number of engraved stones, meant for inculcating values among students as well as serving as memorials to the sayings of Gurus and intellectuals are lying abandoned at different places in Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) thanks to the apathetic attitude of the authorities.

While the university staff and the officials have neglected the stones, installed about 25 years ago, certain labourers in a university guest house have cleaned up one such stone and placed it in a lawn. The stone engraved with a saying of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was , shockingly, placed as a cover of a manhole before being discovered by the labourers.

The stone which has been placed in a lawn of Parker House has lines written on it, 'A university stands for humanism, for tolerance for vision, for the adventure of ideas and for the search of truth-Jawaharlal Nehru.' A labourer working in the guest house told Ludhiana Tribune that he discovered the stone and after seeing graffiti, he cleaned it and showed it to the in-charge of the guest house. The in-charge then placed it in the lawn.
The condition of another stone installed in the rock garden in the university on the name Nek Chand, who had helped in the construction of the garden, is also lying neglected and abandoned in one corner of the garden for the past several years. Lying among wild weeds and grass, the stone was meant to be installed at a prominent place in the garden.

Another stone with a saying of Guru Nanak is also placed near the examination hall of the College of Agriculture. The stone is kept amidst grass and wild vegetation.

A teacher told Ludhiana Tribune that these stones were placed at selected places by the former Vice Chancellor, Dr M.S. Randhawa, who wanted the students to read such lines while studying in the university. Over the years after Dr Randhawa retired from the university in 1978, these stones were neglected.

Interestingly, not many teachers did not know about the presence of stones in the PAU. Most of those whom Ludhiana Tribune spoke to showed their ignorance about the stones. A teacher said some of these stones were kept in the museum of the university