There is a good and bad news for proposed Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) centre at Kishanganj as per reports the Ministry of Minority Affairs is showing its willingness to take over three centres. Informed sources said that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) will hand over its three centres at Mallapuram in Kerala, Kishanganj in Bihar and Murshidabad in West Bengal to the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) for their upgrade as independent universities.
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| AMU Centre Murshidabad |
Although the proposal is a welcome move, but all know very well the response of the Minority Affairs Ministry when it comes to action. Still the proposal of opening three minority universities at Kishanganj with the name Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, Mysore (Tipu Sultan University) and Ajmer (Khwaja Gharib Nawaz University) is hanging in balance. Neither the ministry nor the concerned state governments and wakf boards have taken any bold step to set up the earlier declared minority universities. Now taking over the AMU centres can be called an ambitious step without any foothold at the ground zero.
AMU Registrar Captain Shahrukh Shamshad said, "Talks are on with MoMA in this regard for handing over our three existing centres to them for developing as independent universities. The ministry has given us such a proposal and we are considering it. It is likely that they will be handed over to the ministry. AMU Court, the apex body of the university, too, has given its consent during its meeting held on June 12."
At present, the academic session is going on at the Mallapuram and Murshidabad centres while the Kishanganj centre is still under construction. Their funding is done through separate allocations done by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development. "Once they are separated, their funding and control will be directly done by the government. Then AMU will have no control over them. They will be independent universities," added Shamshad
These three centres will be upgraded as part of the MoMA plan to set up five universities in minority-dominated areas. As all these centres are in minority-dominated districts; they perfectly fit the condition and their upgrade will result in three more central universities. AMU is also unlikely to proceed with proposals to set up new centres in Assam, Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
