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(Bihar Times) It is incomprehensible going by the present plan for NIU as to how it is going to evolve in a benchmark university for the world, not to say redeem the glory of its original self of ancient time. Visionaries associated with this idea have not even undertaken the necessary groundwork for providing a flourishing ground for such a university. It seems that in pursuit of hyped up idea, the very basics prerequisite for such a university has been given a go by. It is not that the people associated with the project are not in a position to help deliver these prerequisite, it is only that they have not applied their minds to it or have not even thought on these lines.
A pertinent question which should have crossed the mind of the mentor group should have been whether they have provided for the necessary backdrop for the university. In the given ambience prevailing in Nalanda, would it be possible to attract the best of 'Knowledge Givers' and 'Knowledge Seekers' from world over? I'm sure even the intellectuals currently residing in Delhi would not be willing to move over to Nalanda to impart education in such a university, let alone people willing to come from other countries. No doubt we would require world quality infrastructure and amenities spread over a much larger area (at least over 100 sq KM) to make Nalanda into a world class university. Size and scale must reflect the grandeur of the Old Nalanda University in all the respect. Also, it would be pertinent to ask if there can ever be a university of the kind of Original Nalanda University unless such a university is supported by the cutting edge applied research capability in its various sphere of operation. If intention is just to revive the name and not the spirit of university then one cannot have much to say. Otherwise, there is an urgent need to rethink the whole Nalanda University strategy to make up for the missing links in its idea.
At this stage, however, mentor group must move quickly to create the necessary applied research infrastructure. The same can be achieved by setting up a research complex comprising of institutes from leading research agencies of India. Given that government wants to start Nalanda International University from year 2009 itself, a host of activity should have already been on to set up a research complex in Nalanda. It would be quite far fetched at this stage even to think of inviting likes of NASA to help set up such cutting edge research institutes but it would not have been that difficult to get ISRO to set up a research center at Nalanda in collaboration with other participating country's Space Research Agencies. Similarly, mentor group should have gone ahead and asked other Indian Research Agencies like TIFR, CSIR, CDAC, CDoT, ICMR, ICAR, NCAER, NEERI and likes to set up an institute each in the said research complex pending invitation from them to their counterparts from other collaborative countries for participation in such institutes. This could have helped make this complex a hub of international collaborative research centers feeding onto Nalanda International University. The cause would have been further helped had the central government also chipped in with the institutes like National Institute of Biotechnology, National Institute of Nanotechnology as also the Institute of Translational Research and UNESCO Regional Center on Biotechnology in the near vicinity of NIU. These various institutes in turn could have been made into an international collaborative research institutes with participation of institutes from other countries.
Without providing for necessary grounding we seem to be chasing a chimera called Nalanda International University. Development of such a center in knowledge excellence cannot happen in confines of 1000 acres as planned by Nalanda Universities mentor group so far. Such a center would require a full fledged self sustaining city country as is the case with Singapore. Since this will be a far fetched idea at this initial stage, at least, a critical mass must be provided for evolution of such a university. State government can expedite evolution of such a research complex by earmarking an area of around 3000 acres in near vicinity of Nalanda International University and allocating the same to all the premier research institutes in their specific spheres to set up their campuses in the complex with an accompanying plan to develop those campuses into a center of collaborative research with institutes/agencies from various participating countries in Nalanda University Project. Dr Kalam, the designated 'Visitor' of NIU, shall be requested to take up the task of roping in the various institutes forthwith. Government of Bihar and Indian Government can also think of setting up an autonomous administrative body for the said research complex with participation of various research agencies head.
Restoring proposed Nalanda University anywhere near to its original self requires some out of the box thinking. Just saying that Nalanda International University would be a benchmark world university is not going to suffice. Vision must translate into demonstrable action.
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*A Financial Sector Consultant and Research Analyst
Other articles by the author ...
comments...
I am 100 % agree with Prateek Sir.
The three points mentioned by Manish, is just telling me that, hey it is Bihar we can not do this. We can not think like this. Jo ho raha hai wahi kafi hai.
No we have to come out from this mentality Manish Sir.
I can not express my feeling, the way I feel when hear word Nalanda. I would not mind if I have to wait two more years to know the name of first student of NIU.
This is the chance we have got when dream can come true about Bihar after waiting so long. After eighteen years, I think that my state got a CM who dream like a common man, who talked like a Bihari.
Whatever media says but I think this project exits because our CM.
Thanks a lot to Bihartimes , Pratik Sir, Manish Sir
Mritunjay
mritunjaygiri@gmail.com
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I am a regular visitor of Bihartimes.com and usually go through most of the articles published here. NIU should not be considered as a Project by Bihar Government, although it is a brainchild of Bihar CM. As suggested by Manish, grand infrastructure, billion dollar donations will not make NIU world-class. It is the quality which will matter and I am quite sure that no team better than the mentor group can do so.
As a responsible correspondent/journalist, I would request you to please focus on the positive aspects of this rather than criticizing it before even it has began. I do agree with you that there are challenges to it, but that needs to be worked upon. Mentor group is well qualified to face all such issues and they will definitely overcome those.
Abhishek
abhishek.kumar@credit-suisse.com
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I have read almost all of your articles that have appeared on BiharTimes. There is no doubt about your intentions towards the development of Bihar; but I would say that your ideas and expectations are a bit far fetched. It feels like either you are not familiar with Bihar or your are living in your own perfect world.
In this regard, I would like to highlight the following:
1. "In the given ambiance prevailing in Nalanda, would it be possible to attract the best of 'Knowledge Givers' and 'Knowledge Seekers' from world over?"
You might also agree with me that our IITs are world class institutions (but not as grand as good old NIU); when IIT was setup in cities like Kharagpur,Kanpur, etc. they were not
big metropolitan cities but were much smaller towns (they are now also). Still, we have near perfect people working there doing teaching, research, etc, because it is the right
ambiance/environment that matters, and not five star hotels.
You have not read the complete news about what the upcoming NIU is going to offer; may be this is the reason, you have suggestions like setting up the various research
institutions, most of which are not even remotely related to what NIU is planning to offer.
2. "No doubt we would require world quality infrastructure and amenities spread over a much larger area (at least over 100 sq KM) to make Nalanda into a world
class university."
Pardon me, but you are also seems to be unaware that, Bihar is primarily agriculture based society/state. People of Bihar are totally dependent on agriculture as their
primary source of livelihood, as industries are non-existent/non-functional. Because of this reason, it is very difficult for Government of Bihar/People of Bihar to part with their
land, and it is a herculean task to convince farmers to give up 1000 acres of their prime land, forget 3000 acres or 100 sq KM.
To be blunt, books and rockets are just not enough to feed the hungry mouths of poor illiterate farmers.
3. "Development of such a center in knowledge excellence cannot happen in confines of 1000 acres as planned by Nalanda Universities mentor group so far. Such
a center would require a full fledged self sustaining city country as is the case with Singapore."
Most probably you are living in Singapore, so am I (since past 4 years). You might be aware that National University of Singapore (NUS), and Nanyang Technological University
(NTU) are considered among top 100 universities in the world. Yet how many acres of land they are spread over in Singapore (the whole Singapore is 707.1 sq KM).
The point is, it is not the land area that matters, it is the teaching, research qualities which carries the weightage.
3. One Last Point
Even the grand old NIU did not came up overnight; we have to begin small, but dream BIG. We can always think of extensions/expansions later on, when we have some
concrete benefit to show to the poor farmers.
Manish
mksingh82@gmail.com
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