A PhD with Four Master's Degrees is Now Selling Vegetables

Dr. Sandeep Singh has a PhD and four master's degrees. He is now a hawker, selling vegetables to make ends meet. Dr. Singh earlier taught at Patiala's Punjabi University for over a decade – first as a Junior Research Fellow and later as guest faculty – but quit due to financial constraints. ‘In June this year, I quit teaching as it became difficult for me and my family to survive on that salary,’ said Dr. Singh. ‘We follow Guru Nanak Dev's teachings and won't beg before anyone. I will keep doing my work.’ Dr Singh now runs a vegetable cart with a board saying: PhD Sabzi Wala. Dr. Singh explains in his interview, as guest faculty, he could earn a decent sum per class and it adds up in a month. But the payments take a long time to get sanctioned. Then there are lean months when the University is either in exam mode or closed. In those months he earned nothing. Punjabi University's Dean (Academics) Ashok Kumar Tiwari and Law Department Head of Department Monica Chawla confirmed that Sandeep was working as a guest faculty at the university and was hired for the 2023-24 session. The approval for Dr. Singh to continue as guest faculty for the next semester from January to May has been sent and Dr. Singh’s consent is awaited. Therein lies the irony. Panjab has failed to hire permanent teaching staff in its colleges and universities for over 20 years (SDW Vol. 1 Issue 7, Story 2). While selling vegetables, Dr. Singh is now pursuing a B.Lib. (Bachelor of Library and Information Sciences) and plans to open an institute to teach poor students.