PATNA: The state cabinet’s approval to 10 acres of land for Patliputra University (PPU) at Bakhtiyarpur, about 45km away from Patna, has evoked mixed response from its officials and teachers’ body on Saturday.
Earlier, the PPU was allotted about 8.05 acre land at the old Mithapur bus stand in Patna to develop its required infrastructure after it was carved out of Magadh University (MU), Bodh Gaya, in March 2018. The land possession remained a dream for the university for one reason or another.
The PPU has 25 constituent colleges and more than 50 affiliated colleges in Patna and Nalanda districts. The university, however, finds it difficult to streamline its academic activities for want a permanent office building and university premises.
Welcoming the land approval, PPU registrar Prof Jitendra Kumar said UGC has recognised PPU under 2 (f), but the university is yet to be recognised under 12 (B) of the UGC Act 1956. “Unless the PPU has its own building to run postgraduate (PG) classes under one roof, the university will not be entitled to get financial grants from the UGC and other agencies. Besides, it will not be eligible to apply even for NAAC accreditation,” he said, adding PPU is continuing with PG teaching at its different constituent colleges.
State higher education director Rekha Kumari said Bakhtiyarpur is the central place of the PPU jurisdiction. Scores of students of Nalanda district need not run to Patna based PPU office for every petty work.
However, PPU senate members Alok Tiwary , Narendra Kumar Singh and Ajay Yadav strongly opposed the government move to shift PPU to Bakhtiyarpur. The PPU was created to get rid of numerous problems faced during the Magadh University days, they said, adding the university headquarters would not run successfully at a place which has block status and not even a subdivision.
PPU Teachers’ Association president, Prof A K Singh Thakur, said teaching and non-teaching staff at the university are now getting 16% HRA in Patna. That will be reduced to 7% HRA after shifting the PPU headquarters. Thus, there is no rationale behind shifting PPU from Patna, he said, adding the government must give a thought over its shifting to semi-urban area.
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