Chandigarh: The Panjab University Teachers' Association (PUTA) will mark Teachers Day Sep 5 as a black day to press their demand for central university status for the university and to protest the state government's backtracking on the issue, official sources said here Thursday.

The state government Sep 1 withdrew its approval for Panjab University to get central university status, six days after the order was passed.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, withdrawing the earlier clearance. A similar communication was also sent to union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh.

"The teachers of Panjab University (PU) will wear black badges and bring out a mass rally in the university, protesting against the shocking decision of the Punjab government," Ronki Ram, president of PUTA, told sources.

"Volte-face of the Punjab government is an immense jolt to our drive to attain central university status for PU. We are now planning to intensify our campaign and have decided to include every section of the society in our movement," he said.

"We have to boldly condemn this decision of the Punjab government. We should not allow anyone to take undue political advantage of this situation," said Shelley Walia, an active member of PUTA and dean (foreign students), PU.

"We have to take into account the larger context of the situation and have to prove how the central status of PU will benefit Punjab," added Walia. IANS