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Patna,(BiharTimes): After having virtually lost the ‘land’ battle with the Centre over the establishment of Central University of Bihar the Nitish government, if the latter’s Vice Chancellor, Janak Pandey, is to be believed, has once again resorted to arm-twisting tactic.
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He alleged that the University had received the third letter from the BIT Mesra in the last six months to vacate the campus though it has taken only the unutilized portion and that too on rent.
The CUB is temporarily functioning from the BIT Mesra near Patna Airport and the two institutes have even join hands to help each other in running several courses. But now the Nitish government is putting pressure on the BIT Mesra to get the CUB vacated.
Janak Pandey openly said that the BIT Mesra is doing so “under the instruction of the Nitish Kumar government.”
Interestingly, this latest pressure to vacate the BIT campus came at the time when the Union Minister of Human Resources Development, Kapil Sibal, reiterated that the Centre wants to establish the CUB at Gaya as it is better connected and fulfills the criteria laid down at the time of establishing Central Universities all over the country. |
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Replying to Nitish Kumar’s letter Sibal said: “You are aware that the University is under pressure to shift from its present temporary campus. We have already lost a few years in identifying an appropriate location. Let us collaborate in the national task of providing quality education to children. Please do not let distrust or politics intrude in this endeavour.”
Sibal, in fact, reiterated his commitment to help in establishing a State university at Motihari to fulfil the aspirations of the people of the region and as a token of appreciation for the efforts made by the government in taking education to the masses.
The letter further said: “The Ministry of Human Resource Development had, in the initial stage, agreed on the establishment of Central universities in locations offered by the State government. However, there has been severe disquiet in the academic community on the selection of sites in certain locations. The Central Universities were intended to be exemplars of the highest quality education. They were meant to be pace-setters fostering a culture of quality teaching-learning and research in their environment. The difficulties being faced by some of the Central Universities, most notably Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Karnataka in attracting quality faculty due to the disadvantage of their location have been discussed numerous times, even receiving adverse comment in the media. Therefore, a conscious decision was taken to identify the most appropriate site for the Central University so that it does not start with a disadvantage in attaining its lofty aims.”
The letter cited the examples of Jharkhand and Gujarat where sites were changed precisely due to bad connectivity.
Meanwhile, teachers of four premier colleges of Gaya have taken to streets in support of CUB in the town Bihar. They are now openly questioning the state government’s wisdom to stall the Centre’s move to open a central university in Gaya when it is doing so on its defence ministry land.
“What is even shocking is that Nitish Kumar is opposing it when Kapil Sibal has repeatedly said that the Centre would help Bihar open a state university in Motihari,” one of the teachers asked.
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