By Mohd Mudassir Alam,
New Delhi: On request of Human Chain, a Delhi based NGO, Ali Anwar Ansari, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) raised the issue of AMU (Aligarh Muslim University) Kishanganj in Parliament during Zero hour on Thursday (September 5, 2013).
Addressing the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Mr. Ansari said that the UPA I government had announced to open five centres of AMU in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal and Maharashtra. The centres were started only in Mallapuram (Kerala) and Murshidabad (West Bengal), but still the establishment of centres of AMU is not done as per announcements in three other places.
The proposed land by Bihar Govt. for AMU campus in Kishanganj
If talked about Bihar, the state government had already handed over 224.02 acres contiguous land to AMU on December 30, 2011. Further the Bihar government had handed over two hostels to AMU administration for girls and boys. The government has also sanctioned Rs. 75 lakh for renovation of the hostels. In the meanwhile the Aligarh Muslim University has submitted Detailed Project Report to Ministry of HRD, said Mr. Ansari.
Continuing his speech, Mr. Ansari said, “Sir, more than one and half year has passed since the Bihar government has handed over the land to AMU. However, the central government has not issued the token grant for establishing the AMU centre in Kishanganj. I would like to mention that during an election campaign in 2010 the UPA Chairperson Mrs. Sonia Gandhi had said that as soon Nitish Kumar allocates land to AMU, the Centre would release the required fund.”
Adding further he said, “Sir, the tenure of UPA II government is about to end in next few months, but still there is uncertainty about the release of fund for AMU Kishanganj. The district of Kishanganj and its adjoining areas namely Katihar, Purnia and Araria has dense population of Muslim minorities and the literacy rate very less. People and activists groups are running campaign to get the university established in Kishanganj. Human Chain – a frontrunner non-government organization has done many agitations in Bihar and Delhi, and also knocked the doors of concerned ministries, but the token grant is yet to be released. I demand the immediate release of funds from the Central government for AMU Kishanganj”.
Mohammad Aslam, President Human Chain had requested Mr. Ansari to raise the issue of AMU Kishanganj in the Parliament during a meeting a couple of days back. The statement of Ali Anwar Ansari has again given a fresh hope to the long delaying issue of AMU Kishanganj. Mr. Ansari has been thanked by governing body and executive members of Human Chain that include Tauquir Alam, Mujahid Akhtar, Minnat Rahmani, Salam Anwar, Naseem Haider, Tarique Sufyan and Tauqueer Alam.
(Mohd Mudassir Alam is a Delhi based journalist.)
Related:
Kishanganj centre of AMU to begin later this year