Centre announces establishment of a Central University in Kishanganj district

Updated on: Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Even as establishment of Aligarh Muslim University's (AMU) clone at Kishanganj is on the anvil for which the state government has already allocated land, the UPA government at the Centre has offered another bonanza to Kishanganj district.

The Centre has announced the establishment of a Central University in Kishanganj district, which will be named after great educationalist Rafi Ahmad Kidwai.

Kishanganj Congress MP Asrarul Haq informed from New Delhi that Union minister for minority affairs K Rahman Khan made an announcement in this context in the Rajya Sabha on November 22. The proposed new university will be known as Rafi Ahmad Kidwai University (RAKU), said the MP.

Giving details about the proposed university, the MP said that a 100-acre plot of land, preferably that of the Wakf Board land, would be obtained. But, if there is any hitch or difficulty, the people's representatives from all parties will approach chief minister Nitish Kumar for seeking land.

The proposed varsity will mainly focus on the teaching of science subjects. It is being open in the light of the recommendations of the Sachchar Committee, which had mooted the proposal for establishment of universities in minority-dominated parts of the country.

While RAKU was proposed in Muslim-dominated Kishanganj in Bihar, Tipu Sultan University at Bangaluru (Karnataka) and Khwaja Garib Nawaz University at Ajmer (Rajsthan) were also announced by the minister, the Congress MP Haq told TOI. He also said that the proposal for establishment of universities in minority-dominated districts in consonance with the recommendations of Sachchar Committee was hanging fire for long. A delegation of Muslim leaders had recently called on the PM Manmohan Singh, who had promptly conceded their demand, Haq said.

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