The statewide criticism against Congress for neglecting AMU Kishanganj in Union Budget seems has yielded positive result. Delhi based Human Chain society following the issue of AMU Kishanganj had received crucial documents from ministry of HRD and AMU administration that raises the hope for release of token grant by this budget session. Just a couple of days before the budget speech of Finance Minister in the parliament, the official from Ministry of HRD had replied to the letter of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Registrar Shahrukh Shamshad dated 23rd January 2013.
Below is the letter of HRD addressed to AMU
The letter from MHRD clearly states that without DPR (Detailed Project Report) / DFR (Detailed Feasibility Report) the fund can’t be released for the establishment of AMU Campus at Kishanganj. Further, in the letter the MHRD suggests the registrar to use the AMU budget for getting the DPR / DFR prepared and later on the amount can be recouped from the funds sanctioned for the AMU Centre.
Since AMU campus Kishanganj was not included in budget as soon the speech of Finance Minister ended the protests against Congress led UPA government was witnessed in Kishanganj and other parts of Bihar. Under wide criticism, the Union Minister of HRD M Mangapati Pallam Raju himself had telephonic conversation with AMU Vice Chancellor Lt. Gen (Retd.) Zameruddin Shah to resolve the issue on priority basis.
Based on telephonic conversation the AMU VC replied to MHRD and mentioned that on directions of HRD Minister a sum of Rs lacs is being diverted from “On Account” grant available under “Salary 12 Plan” to meet the immediate expanses of DPR / DFR for AMU campus in Kishanganj. In his letter, the AMU Vice Chancellor has also demanded a token grant of Rs. 30 crore on priority so that the new Centre at Kishanganj could be started from academic session 2013 – 14.
Below is the letter of AMU Vice Chancellor with his nod for using fund to get the DPR / DFR prepared
Human Chain has expressed its gratitude to HRD minister and AMU Vice Chancellor for pushing ahead the official process. Mohammad Aslam, president Human Chain said, “We were impatiently waiting for the go-ahead signal from its stake-holders related to DPR/DFR preparation for the AMU Kishanganj campus. The AMU Registrar had written twice to MHRD related to DPR / DFR funds, however, the ministry took more than one month to reply.” Minnat Rahmani, Secretary Human Chain and also the spokesperson Bihar Congress Minority Cell expressed his happiness and said “AMU campus Kishanganj is like a precious gift for the deprived district, which is legging behind in almost all areas of development.”
Further Mohammad Mudassir Alam from Human Chain said, “now, the AMU Vice Chancellor has given his nod for preparation of DPR / DFR, we can expect that the token grant of Rs 30 crore would be released in this budget session, probably within a month”. Human Chain core-team members including Mujahid Akhtar, Khalid Mubashshir, Nawed Shamshi, Salam Anwer, Nasim Haider, Tarique Sufyan, Tauqeer Alam, Jahangir Alam, Wasim Akhtar, Ghaznafar Elahi, Ghulam Tarique, Najeeb Sagar and many others highly delighted over the latest development related to AMU Kishanganj. They have thanked the MHRD and AMU Vice Chancellor for finding out a solution to end the deadlock.
