Six years on, central university at Vikramshila site yet to take shape

PATNA: The announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi almost six years ago regarding establishment of a central university at the historic site of Vikramshila University in Bhagalpur is yet to take shape. The central government had also allocated Rs 500 crore for the purpose.
Sources claimed that things were moving at a snail’s pace allegedly due to official apathy. The committee constituted by the Union HRD ministry more than 18 months ago for selecting the final site for the proposed university submitted its report to the Centre recently.
State education minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary told this newspaper on Tuesday, “The Centre had asked Bihar to provide 500 acres of land for setting up the university. The state government, however, expressed its inability in procuring this much land in Bhagalpur and offered 200 acres for the purpose as most of the lands are agricultural and fertile. The central government accepted the proposal and asked the state to provide two to three alternative locations.”
The state government in December 2018 furnished the details of three locations in Kahalgaon circle of Bhagalpur district. The Union HRD ministry constituted a five-member committee consisting of a joint secretary of the ministry, UGC secretary, vice-chancellor of Central University of South Bihar, principal secretary of state education department and chief engineer of Central Public Works Department for selecting the site. But perhaps due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the committee could not visit the site in time and submit its report.
The minister said, “The entire project is being monitored by the Union HRD ministry and the state government has been providing all the required facilities to the Centre. Moreover, the allocated fund of Rs 500 crore has not been received by the state till date.”
The minister, however, hoped that as the pandemic normalizes, things would move fast and the proposed central university at Vikramshila site would soon see the light of day.