Dharna held to convert Patna University into central varsity

PATNA: Prominent intellectuals, academicians, politicians and social workers of the state staged a daylong dharna at Kargil Chawk here on Thursday to press for conversion of Patna University, the seventh oldest university of the country, into a central university. The dharna was organized under the banner of Bihar Rajya Nagrik Sangharsh Morcha.
Addressing the dharna, former Union finance minister and a PU alumnus Yashwant Sinha agreed to lead the statewide agitation to convert PU into a central university.He said that he would raise this demand forcefully in Parliament soon. "A strong public opinion in favour of PU must be mobilized to draw the attention of the central government towards this long pending demand," he said.
IPS (retired) G Narayan, Magadh Mahila College sociology teacher Dharmshila Prasad, B N College geology teachers Ranbir Nandan and Ram Bali Singh, Patna Science College teacher M N Sinha, Patna University Teachers' Association former general secretary Himanshu Bhushan Prasad Sinha, PU history department former head Yuvraj Deo Prasad and agricultural scientist Rabindra Kumar Sinha also addressed the gathering and expressed their determination to continue with the struggle.
Supporting the demand, PU vice-chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh said there is no harm in setting up new central universities in the state but they must not be set up at the cost of PU. "The demand for conversion of PU into a central university is being raised for the last five to six decades but the central government has always turned a deaf ear to it. In the meantime, several new universities of other states have been taken over by the centre," the VC said.
PU, on its own, has also submitted to the Union HRD minister a detailed proposal for its conversion into a central university. The state government has already issued its no objection to the centre, he added.