Chandigarh, Jan. 2 -- In a move to help students coming to Panjab University (PU) from Mohali and Panchkula, the PU is set to launch a trial programme to offer pick-up and drop facility for the students by using the university buses. While this was initially submitted as a memorandum by Panjab University Campus Students' Council (PUCSC) president Gauravveer Sohal, the dean students welfare (DSW) office has taken a note and set in motion a trial to see the feasibility of this project. Officials said the trial will start in the coming days. DSW Amit Chauhan said, "Under the DSW office, we already have two buses which ply on routes between the North and South Campus from 9 am to 5 pm. We will propose extending these hours to 8 am in the morning and 6 pm in the evening. The extra one hour will be used to offer pick-up and drop facility to the students who opt for it." DSW Chauhan added that in the coming week they will issue a circular to get responses from students. "We will ask who wants to avail this facility and where they reside. Routes for these buses will be drawn based on these inputs and we will decide on a monthly fare for students as well based on the running costs and the routes," he said. The DSW added that the monthly fees for students will be lower to what the standard buses charge. Currently the project will be in a trial phase with just the two buses. If it receives a favourable response, Chauhan said that PU has more buses which could also be utilised towards this. This is not the first time that PU is trying to bring some form of bus transport to the campus. In 2024, two buses were given to PU to connect member institutes of Chandigarh Region Innovation Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC). The service was resumed again after lying defunct for four years. However, as per officials these buses are again not plying between the institutes. The proposal was received on the demand of students doing thesis work at National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI). The interested students were asked to pay Rs.1,500 per month in advance so that the varsity can get an idea of the total takers of the service. However, less than the minimum required number of 15 students actually registered for this service. Even the bus service between North Campus and South Campus run by the DSW office is not very popular and some students admitted they were not even aware that the buses ply on campus and can be used free-of-charge. This time, the demand has been raised by the PUCSC president. Speaking about this, Sohal said, " This demand aims to ensure safe, affordable, and reliable daily commute for students, especially day scholars, while reducing travel hardships and improving academic accessibility." Authorities are also in favour of the idea. Officials said that this will be especially beneficial for female students who come from Mohali and Panchkula and students would also like availing this subsidised service. Further, the move aims at bringing down traffic congestion in the authorities multi-pronged approach to tackle the number of vehicles on campus....