AMU Students have started online protest over cash paucity at its Kishanganj center; #FundForAMUKishanganj trends on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Eight years have passed since the Congress-led UPA government in 2013 approved a grant of Rs 136 crore for setting up Bihar’s Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) center in Kishanganj, but so far only an amount of Rs 10 crore has been released. Due to fund crunch, today AMU’s Kishanganj centre is standing on the verge of closure.
Local activists and politicians have been raising the issue of paucity of funds for this centre but the central government has not paid any attention to it so far.
Recently, this issue came to light again as students from the main campus of the varsity has raised the concerns over lack of fundings for its Kishanganj, Bihar campus.
Speaking at a protest at Aligarh Muslim University campus, student leader Salman Gori has requested to the central government to release the remnant funds for the campus.
He said, “Due to lack of funds, administration is not able to run the institution properly, there no teachers and building of the institutions is getting dilapidated”.
Recently, an amount of ten crore was passed by the ministry of minority affairs for the construction of girls’ hostel at the campus. But the students says that this is not enough as the centre is going through huge fund crisis.
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AIMIM MP, Asaduddin Owaisi on Jan 27, also has written to the human resource development minister over the issue. He said, “the centre of Kishanganj (AMU) is very socially, educationally and economically backward compared to the rest of the country. The literacy rate of Kishanganj is in fact, one of the lowest in the country in both male and female ratio. Furthermore, there is no comparable university in the adjoining districts and AMU- Kishanganj presents the only hope for the upliftment of the population. Your government’s central agenda over the past three years have been that of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ and this project will go a long way in making this slogan a realty.”
Earlier, in March 2021, Congress MP from Kishanganj Mohammad Javed has raised this issue continuously at various levels for some time now.
He had said in Parliament, “I want to remind you that in 2013 when UPA was in power, the AMU Centre was opened keeping in mind the educational backwardness of the district. But unfortunately, in the last 7 years, the balance amount (Rs.122.82 crore) has not been released even though I have raised this issue in Parliament many times. I want to appeal to the finance minister with folded hands to release the balance amount. And also urge them to allocate 200-500 crore more grants because Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks of ‘Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas’.”
Congratulating Dr Md Jawaid for raising Kishanganj cash crunch and getting another instalment for the girls hostel, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, “Of course this only covers the hostel. The overall Budget approved in 2014 has still not come through. I support @drMdJawaid1 (Mohammad Jawaid)’s demands for #FundForAMUKishanganj.”
The paucity of funds has badly affected the AMU Kishanganj Centre. At present, this centre is barely being run in only two temporary buildings given by the Nitish Kumar government of the state.
Director of AMU Kishanganj Centre Hasan Imam told media that the centre is still running due to the funds received by the university. He said that “the university is running this centre from its own funds.” At present there are 27 employees in the centre whose salary is also being paid by the university itself.
The Kishanganj centre does not even have its own building structure. The Bihar government had allotted 224 acres of land for this centre near the Mahananda river, but due to the objection raised by the NGT, the matter is mired in legal trouble.
He said, “I want to appeal to Modi ji that we need funds to run this center. The objection raised by the NGT on the allotted land should be set aside as the university does not cause any pollution. This issue has been raised in a wrong way. The university will bring greenery there. It will create employment there. So, I request Modi ji to help AMU center to develop this backward area.”
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