Vikramshila varsity: Six years on, project still a non-starter

Though the revival of Nalanda university has seen progress and the campus is being developed close to the ancient site, the remains of Vikramshila located near Antichak village in the Kahalgaon subdivision of Bhagalpur remain neglected for decades.

Ahead of the 2015 assembly elections, one of the important components of the ₹1,25,000-crore special package for Bihar announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to set up a central university near the ancient seat of learning at Vikramshila in Bhagalpur district.

The remains of Vikramshila located near Antichak village in the Kahalgaon subdivision of Bhagalpur. (HT File)

Six years on, even the land for the proposed university is not there.

Bihar’s glorious history in the sphere of education is marked by two great institutions — ancient universities of Nalanda and Vikramshila – which flourished before the establishment of Oxford and Cambridge universities in the United Kingdom.

Though the revival of Nalanda university has seen progress and the campus is being developed close to the ancient site, the remains of Vikramshila located near Antichak village in the Kahalgaon subdivision of Bhagalpur remain neglected for decades.

The state just has to provide land for the central university, while the entire responsibility of infrastructure development and academic activities rests with the Centre.

Bihar already has two central universities – Central University of South Bihar (CUSB) in Gaya and Mahatma Gandhi Central University in Motihari.

While Centre arranged land for CUSB from the defence ministry and the campus is now buzzing, the Motihari Central University is still awaiting its campus over five years after its inception and is functioning from a makeshift campus.

The Vikramshila issue was also raised in the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 2017 itself through a call attention motion by former Speaker and senior Congress leader Sadanand Singh and the Bihar government made a statement that the Bhagalpur district magistrate had been asked to identify three different plots of land so that the Central team could visit for site selection.

However, a central panel could visit the site for the proposed Vikramshila Central University only this year, in March, and has submitted its interim report. The team was headed by the then CUSB vice-chancellor HCS Rathore and also comprised Central Public works Department (CPWD) and representatives of the Bihar government.

“We have given a positive interim report pertaining to suitability of land shown to us to the ministry of human resource development. The 282-acre plot identified by the Bihar government should be sufficient, but land acquisition has to be completed. It is four kilometres from the ancient site. Now the decision has to be taken at the higher level,” Rathore said.

Bhagalpur district magistrate Subrat Kumar Sen said the report regarding the land in the Kahalgaon circle has been sent to the ministry by the committee. “Once the ministry gives its nod and we get the money for acquisition, we will start the process,” he said.

On November 20, 2015, the HRD ministry had requested the state government to provide two or three locations of 500 acres land, of which one suitable site (free or cost and free from all encumbrances) would be selected for the proposed university. However, the state government proposed to reduce the land area requirement to 200 acres, stating that most of the land in the state is agricultural and there is shortage of land area.

Accordingly, it was decided that the state government may provide 200 acres to begin with and acquire another 300 acres for further expansion. Later, in 2018, three sites at Parshuramchak, Antichak and Kisandaspur were identified.

Ancient universities of Nalanda and Vikramshila flourished before the establishment of Oxford and Cambridge universities in the United Kingdom. Remains of Vikramshila are located near Antichak village in Bhagalpur.

Ahead of 2015 Bihar polls, PM Modi announced ₹1,25,000-crore special package for the state, of which setting up a central university near Vikramshila ruins in Bhagalpur’s Kahalgaon was a key component.

On Nov 20, 2015, HRD ministry requested Bihar government to provide two or three locations of 500 acres, of which one site would be selected. State govt proposed to reduce the land requirement to 200 acres, citing shortage.

In 2018, three sites at Parshuramchak, Antichak and Kisandaspur were identified. In March this year, a central team visited the 282-acre plot situated four kilometres from the ancient site of Vikramshila university.