HRD plans Patil gift: Central varsity in Amravati

Even as the political scene has heated up over determining President Pratibha Patils successor,the stage is set for her farewell.

Even as the political scene has heated up over determining President Pratibha Patils successor,the stage is set for her farewell. The Kapil Sibal-led Union Human Resource Development HRD Ministry is also wrapping up a farewell gift for the President a central university in her hometown Amravati.

Sibal confirmed to The Indian Express that a central university will be set up in Amravati. The HRD Ministry has already written to the Maharashtra government seeking its views on the issue. The ministry has asked the state government to also indicate what would be preferable upgrading the existing varsity or setting up a new one. The ministry itself,it is learnt,is in favour of setting up a new varsity that will be set up in the 12th Plan period.

While the ministry is yet to firm up plans on whether more new central varsities will be added during the 12th Plan,the Amravati plan has received the green signal,sources confirmed.

Incidentally,while President Patil had at least on two occasions written to the HRD Ministry on locating an institute in Amravati,both requests had been turned down. In 2008,the President first suggested that an IIT be set up at Amravati exclusively for women. While the ministry and even the Prime Ministers Office granted in-principle approval for the same,the Planning Commission rejected the idea saying none of the nations major institutes was gender specific and setting such a precedent would not only pave the way for similar demands in other institutes but also end up diluting the brand IIT.

Patil,however,did not give up. She wrote in 2010 to the Prime Minister requesting that the existing Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University be upgraded to a central university. The HRD Ministry ended up rejecting the idea saying that its experience with upgrading existing varsities to central varsities was not very good and that this model was not found very successful. However,as Patil readies to demit her high office,the ministry has finally agreed to a central varsity in her hometown.

The proposed central university at Amravati will be an addition to the 40 existing central varsities. While as many as 14 new central varsities were announced in 2008,most of them are still finding their feet. Land and location have also not been handed over for some of these even four years after vice-chancellors were appointed.