Patna: The
Bihar government recently approved two new universities in the state. They, however, did not include a women's varsity promised by CM
Nitish Kumar two-and-a-half years ago.
Attending the Patna Women's College (PWC)'s annual function on January 9, 2014, Kumar accepted the request of the college principal to upgrade the institution as a women's university. "It will be a matter of honour for the state when
PWC
becomes Bihar's first women's university," he said. Kumar even asked the then state education minister,
P K Shahi
, to "look into the modalities and facilitate the process". A proposal was sought from the college.
However, a senior education department official on Thursday said the department had not received any such proposal. "The CM made the announcement, but the proposal has to be initiated by the college. Only then can the government act," he said, admitting hardly anyone in the department was either aware of or even talks about it.
PWC principal Sr Doris D'Souza, at whose request the CM made the promise, has since retired. Current principal Sr M Jessie said , "We are in the process of preparing a proposal. Some internal assessments are underway... A lot of study needs to be done before the proposal is finalised," she told TOI, adding it might take a year or two.
According to her, the college has adequate infrastructure required for a varsity, but recruitment of teachers is one of the major challenges. "For a university, faculty strength will need to be increased, especially for the new courses that will be launched. Again, there is the issue of their salary with the latest payscale," she said.
Kumar had even suggested that Sr D'Souza could become the proposed varsity's first VC. Sr Jessie said the decision on VC and other university officials would be taken by the congregation functionaries.
Incidentally, even
Magadh Mahila College
has been demanding the same for long with some of its faculty members claiming it fulfils all the criteria for becoming a university.