Giving in to the demands of Bihar, the Union government has
decided to set up a central university in Motihari in addition to the
one proposed in Gaya, ending a prolonged slugfest over the issue. “I
have given the approval for establishment of a central university in
Motihari and I am happy that the issue has been resolved,” HRD Minister
Kapil Sibal told reporters in New Delhi today. HRD Ministry had decided
to set up a central university in Gaya, arguing that it had good
connectivity and enabling infrastructure. However, Bihar Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar and other political parties had been insisting that the
central university should be established in Motihari to end regional
disparities, leading to a slugfest for months. The Bihar Assembly even
passed a resolution to demand the university in Motihari. As a
consequence of the decision, the Central Universities Act, 2009 would
have to be amended to enable opening of two central universities in
Bihar. The Act had a provision for setting two central universities in
Jammu and Kashmir as a special case. This is only the second exception
made by the Union government of setting up two central universities in a
particular state, the first being Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said
there would be no additional allocation for Bihar and the Rs 240 crore
meant for the state for the central university would now be divided
among the two varsities. Sibal said the campus in Motihari would be
adjacent to an upcoming national highway, the completion of which would
reduce the travel time to and fro Patna by two and half hours
Save Dissent to Save Democracy THE rising instances of physical violence and threats against political opponents and the inability to accept dissent must raise huge concerns amongst all of us who see democracy as perhaps the really stellar achievement since Independence. AAP’s attack on BJP headquarters and acts of arson committed under the very noses of their elite leadership; the attacks on Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia in Gujarat in the last two days; the recent manhandling of the caretaker of journalist Siddharth Varadarajan’s house by some garden variety thugs; and the violence and threats meted out regularly to their political opponents by political parties is surely deplorable and condemnable. This is a fatally flawed trend which will destroy the very foundations of our democratic institutions if not pushed back with all the strength and condemnation that the civil society can mobilise. Replaying the past To begin with, it must be clarified that we should ...
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