BHU ?South Campus? coming up
BANARAS HINDU University (BHU), an educational institute of international repute has seen a visible change during the last one year, though a lot still needs to be done to keep the wheels of the administration moving.
BANARAS HINDU University (BHU), an educational institute of international repute has seen a visible change during the last one year, though a lot still needs to be done to keep the wheels of the administration moving.
For the first time in the history of this prestigious institute, a vast stretch of land measuring 2700 acres lying unused at Barkacha in Mirzapur district since 1976-77, has started taking shape, as the extension of this university—named as ‘South Campus’ of BHU.
On Saturday when journalists visited the upcoming South Campus (at Barkacha) accompanying the Vice-Chancellor Prof Panjab Singh, they could not only see a visible change on the land being put into productive use, buildings coming up but also medical facilities made available to the people of this far flung area.
This vast stretch of land was donated to BHU by the Banaras Maha Mandal Trust on lease about three decades back. It was lying unused since then. It is said that many former vice-chancellors expressed their desire to put this land into use, but could do nothing till Prof Panjab Singh assumed charge as the new Vice-Chancellor on May 3, 2005.
There are a number of developmental projects under progress in the the ‘South Campus’ at Barkacha.
Three water conservation dams worth Rs 1.50 crore have either been constructed or are on the final stage of construction by the state government on this campus.
“The ‘South Campus’ is being developed as a potential hub for education, training and entrepreneurship development in the youth of this region to become job providers and not the job seekers,” Prof Panjab Singh told the reporters at Barkacha campus on Saturday.
He said research projects worth about 17 crore have either been sanctioned or have been submitted for Barkacha campus. Interestingly, many public representatives like MLAs and MLCs, who are the alumni of BHU, also visited Barkacha campus on Saturday.
“We see Madan Mohan Malviya, the founder of BHU’s qualities in Prof Panjab Singh, who is doing the impossible—which no V-C ever dared to do—developing South Campus of BHU at Barkacha,” Bharat Singh, MLA from Ballia said at a meeting at Barkacha. Another MLC Kedarnath Singh announced Rs 10 lakh for this campus.
The doctors from prestigious BHU’s hospital started OPD at this campus for the local people. But, what was lacking was the publicity as where as Vice-Chancellor was busy oiling university’s machinery, rust has not been removed from its publicity wing.
“Sir, we do not know health services has been made available for us here,” a villager told the Vice-Chancellor.
It may be mentioned Vice-Chancellor during his last press conference on May 12 in Varanasi announced that he would like to hold next such conference at Barkacha South Campus. Ironically, its publicity wing failed to rope in media persons.
