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Himachal Pradesh varsity completes 50 years
The university also got ‘A’ grade certification for the first time by the National Assessment Accreditation Council (NAAC)
The Himachal Pradesh University that was established on July 22, 1970, completed 50 yearson Wednesday. A symbolic celebration of the foundation day will be held with a limited number of people due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Situated in Summerhill, Shimla, HPU is the only multi-faculty and affiliating university in the state that provides higher education that not only targets the urban population from across the state and the country but also a large number of students from the remote rural and tribal districts, barely touched by the benefits of education. Among its major objectives is the empowerment of the underprivileged sections of society who live on the margins of society.
HPU vice-chancellor Sikander Kumar said striving towards excellence, the university aims to empower the people of the hill state. He said that HPU has led the way by spearheading the progressive move to provide free education to girl students. Besides, it reserves two seats for the ‘single girl child’ in every department. The university has reserved one seat each in MPhil. and PhD for students with disabilities. It is also the first university to have started a distance education programme.
The International Centre for Distance and Open Learning (ICDEOL) at the University has contributed towards spreading education not only in the hill state but across the country. HPU has a six-storey library building, housing 2, 35, 570 books, 345 periodicals and journals with a seating capacity for 1,000.
Remote access to e-resources (books and journals) facilities to readers is being provided at the doorstep. A well-equipped library for specially-abled readers has been setup.
Many posts of teaching and non-teaching categories were filled up and efforts are on to fill 324 teaching and 274 non-teaching posts in the future. The process of radio frequency identification (RFID)-based automation is underway at the library, said the VC.
The university also got ‘A’ grade certification for the first time by the National Assessment Accreditation Council (NAAC). The university has its own interdisciplinary journal and bilingual newsletter ‘Himshikher’.
It is also among the few universities to have its own university anthem (Kulgeet). Notable alumni of the university include former president of afghanistan Hamid Karzai, Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda, chief justice of the Patna high court Sanjay Karol and many other notable persons.
