Boston varsity may soon open campus in India: Ramadoss

With a large number of Indians joining Boston University, a “campus” of the university may soon open in India itself.

With a large number of Indians joining Boston University, a “campus” of the university may soon open in India itself.

Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss will be visiting the university this week. “They (Boston University officials) had evinced interest to open a campus here. Further talks will be held when I meet them,” Ramadoss told The Indian Express.

The talks had started when Ramadoss visited the Boston University School of Public Health last year and addressed the students there. He had discussed about possible student and faculty exchanges between the university and India with university president Robert A Brown.

Story continues below this ad

“I had invited the university president to India. A delegation came a few months ago and went around the country to select a site for the campus,” added Ramadoss.

The minister said the authorities could establish the campus either in Delhi or Chennai.

The university is unlikely to restrict itself to medical courses only. Courses in arts, music and sciences may also be started.

Although India’s 262 medical schools and 230 dental schools roll out nearly 30,000 and 17,000 graduates every year, respectively, officials said the numbers were not enough to address the country’s medical needs.

Story continues below this ad

“A state-of-the-art university in India will definitely help,” said a senior official in the Health Ministry, referring to Boston University’s interest in opening a campus here.

However, there is still time before the university campus is set up here.

“Establishing a university campus is a long process. A course in medicine requires permission from the Medical Council of India (MCI). Technical courses will need approval from AICTE and courses in arts and sciences need to be cleared by the University Grants Commission (UGC). All this will take time,” said the official.