Gujarat: To make education accessible to all, help of civil society must, says Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama

The minister addressed a public gathering after laying the foundation stone of the first phase of the building of Bhakta Kavi Narsinh Mehta University (BKNMU) in Junagadh on Friday.

Chudasama cited the example of China. He said that China has a number of universities which are ranked high globally but India and Gujarat as a state were lagging behind. He suggested collective efforts could help improve the situation. “Israel receives comparatively very less amount of water but its agricultural production is very high. They also do value addition after harvesting their crops. This small country has done wonders in this field as people of Israel have a sense of community and a sense of collective responsibility,” said the minister.

The state government had formed the BKNMU in 2016-17. But it has been functioning out of a part of the building of government polytechnic at Khadiya village of Junagadh. However, now the state government has allotted 220 acres of land to BKNMU opposite the polytechnic. “In the first phase, the main entry gate, administrative building, central library and buildings of five post-graduate departments would be constructed. These facilities will be developed on 100 acres at an estimated cost of Rs 54 lakh,” BKNMU vice-chancellor Professor Jivraj Maiyani told The Indian Express over phone.

Presently, around 65,000 students are enrolled with BKNMU. The varsity has postgraduate departments of lice sciences, languages and social sciences and social work besides 39 postgraduate centres and 149 affiliated colleges. The varsity has jurisdiction in Junagadh, Porbandar, Devbhoomi Dwarka and Gir Somnath districts. The V-C said that postgraduate departments of chemistry and forensic science and commerce and management will become functional from the academic session 2018-19. “We shall develop botanical garden, sports complex in the second phase. We have planned to complete the first phase in five years,” added Prof Maiyani.