By TCN News,
Murshidabad: The President of India, Mr. Pranab Mukharjee, while inaugurating the B.Ed. Course at the Aligarh Muslim University Murshidabad Centre, West Bengal, said that access to higher education, especially in remote areas, is the need of hour. Accessibility and affordability is necessary for inclusion and to make higher education affordable for meritorious students belonging to socially and economically different backgrounds is a big challenge. He said that measures like scholarships, student loans and self-help schemes are necessary to improve the educational scenario in these areas.
Mr. Mukherjee appreciated the efforts of the Aligarh Muslim University to set up its Centres with the purpose of bringing the deprived and educationally backward regions of the country into the nation mainstream.
AMU Vice Chancellor welcoming the President of India Shri Mukherjee at AMU Murshidabad Centre.
President Mr. Pranab Mukharjee announced that due to sad demise of Nelson Mandela, all official programmes have been cancelled but he visited the Murshidabad Centre to interact with students and faculty members. He further announced that he will visit Murshidabad again to inaugurate the newly established campus.
President Mr. Mukharjee paid a rich tribute to Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, founder of the Aligarh Muslim University and said, “Sir Syed was a great advocate of secularism. He always worked towards bringing all communities together to achieve the greater objectives of the national development.”
Mr. Mukarjee pointed out that the bond between Bengal and AMU began over a century back. Sir Syed made visits several times to Calcutta and interacted with the great social reformer, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, whom he considered a source of inspiration. As a citadel of secularism, Sir Syed kept the doors of MAO College open to every community. Noted Sanskrit Scholar, Babu Asutosh Bhattacharya was appointed as a Sanskrit teacher and Prof. Jadu Chandra Chakaraborty for Mathematics in 1888.
He said that AMU has been working towards building a nation that stands for tolerance, mutual cooperation, communal affinity and secularism. This institution, through its long standing secular credentials, has been a strong promoter of togetherness.
Mr. Mukharjee hoped that AMU Murshidabad Centre would provide an easy access to modern education to the educationally deprived section of this region.
Welcoming the President of India, AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah said that in the past few years, Aligarh Muslim University has witnessed an era of transition of great significance and a new wave of expansion and capacity building has been implemented.
Gen. Shah pointed out that AMU Murshidabad Centre is a unique example of partnership between the Government of India, Government of West Bengal and AMU in service of the community and the nation.
AMU Vice Chancellor said that AMU has a long, glorious association with West Bengal and particularly Murshidabad, whose ruler Nawab Shamsun Jahan Begum was closely associated with MAO College, Aligarh and establishment of the Murshidabad Centre is a great tribute to Nawab of Murshidabad.
President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee at a programme at AMU Murshidabad Centre, Shri Mukherjee addressed the students and teachers of the Centre.
Gen. Shah said that presently AMU Murshidabad Centre is now offering three courses, two years’ full time MBA, five years’ integrated BALLB and B.Ed. which has been recently started. He said that the University is planning to start one professional course every year. He said that the present centre will soon be shifted to its new campus. He hoped that the Murshidabad Centre will become a full-fledged University by 2020.
AMU Vice Chancellor requested the West Bengal government to provide exclusive health facility for this Centre and water purification plant be installed as the water in this area bore high percentage of arsenic and was not safe for drinking.
Earlier in the beginning, two minutes’ silence was observed to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela.
Prof. Javed Akhtar, Coordinator, AMU Centres proposed a vote of thanks. Prof. S.N. Zeba conducted the programme. AMU students presented National Anthem and the University Tarana on this occasion.
Dr. Md. Junaid, Director, AMU Murshidabad Centre and other staff members welcomed the President of India at Rabindra Sadan Auditorium at Jangipur, Murshidabad, West Bengal.