Bihar is going to be the second state after Kerala to accelerate the process for the establishment of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus, thanks to the active interest of state Chief Minister Mr Nitish Kumar in the proposed off-campus centre of AMU in Kishanganj district.
Today, Mr. Nitish Kumar directed the state officials to place the issue of allotment of 250 acres of land for the proposed AMU campus in Kishanganj in the next meeting of the state Cabinet to be held on 9th or 17th February.
This direction came from the chief minister at a presentation meeting with AMU delegation led by VC P.K Abdul Azis. They are on a two-day visit of the state to thank to the chief minister and to see the land in Kishanganj.
The Chief Minister has exchanged his views on several topics with the delegation. He said that there is a huge demand for nursing, pharmacy and college of education in Bihar and this fact must also be incorporated while building the center. Expressing lack of trained teachers in the state he requested the Vice Chancellor to work out a program for starting quality training for untrained teachers of the state.
In the power point presentation the Vice-Chancellor Prof. P. K. Abdul Azis explained the genesis of conceiving the center and the process of their establishment. He thanked Mr. Nitish Kumar for providing 250 acres of land within 6 months on fast track basis and put before him some requests related to the campus.
In order to facilitate the establishment of the center in Kishanganj and making it functional from the next academic session, the Vice-Chancellor urged the Chief Minister to transfer the land in the name of AMU free from all encumbrances by the end of this month.
The Vice-Chancellor also asked for providing 30-meter wide road connecting the campus to the state/national highways and construction of electricity sub-station as well as providing drinking water with uninterrupted supply. Besides this, the visiting team requested him for sewage treatment plant, surface area development, internal cabling and providing basic statistics of the proposed land.
Giving reference to the state government rules, Chief Minister said that the state government rule allows leasing of the land only for a period of 30 years and subsequently it will be renewed. Leasing state government’s land is like transferring ownership, he added.
He, however, asked the state officials to start widening of the road work and the other civic amenities required for the center.
He asked the AMU team to start work on the project relating to the special center without waiting for the formal approval and assured that the cabinet will approve the allotment of the land for the campus in the next meeting.
Besides the V-C, the AMU team included Prof. Ekram Hussain, Prof. N. A. K. Durrani, Prof M. Saud Alam Qasmi, Prof. Javed Akhter and Member of Parliament from Kishanganj Maulana Israrul Haque who is also a member of AMU Court.
