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I
am a fellow Bihari, who is very sad and pained
by the attitude of our own elected government at
the Center for denying us a good institute of
higher education and research.
Following is the reply of State Minister HRD (Govt
of India) on a question regarding setting up of
an IISER in Bihar
An answer by Smt. D. Purandeswari (minister of
state in HRD) for the question raised by Dr
Ramkripal Yadav in the Parliament indicates that
probably the ministry is not considering the
establishment of IISER in Bihar. Don't you think
the advisory committee is biased and most
ministers from our state are fooling us?
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 1123
TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.08.2007
OPENING OF IISER
1123. SHRI RAM KRIPAL YADAV
Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
be pleased to state:-
(a) Whether the Government has opened three
Indian Institutes of Science, Education, and
Research (IISER) in the country;
(b) If so, the details where these Institutes
have been opened;
(c) The details of the budget allocated for
opening of the IISER during the current year,
(d) Whether the Government has any plan to
establish one such IISER in Bihar;
(e) If so, the details thereof; and
(f) If not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SMT. D. PURANDESWARI)
(a) to (f) : On the recommendations of the
Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime
Minister (SAC-PM), the Government of India has
set up three Indian Institutes of Science
Education and Research (IISERs), one each at
Pune, Kolkata and Mohali. During the current
financial year, a budgetary allocation of Rs.
125.00 crore has been made for IISERs. At
present, the Government is not considering
setting up one such Indian Institute of Science
Education and Research (IISR).
This the briefing of Lok Sabha, which states
that Central govt has once again denied our
demand to open an Institute of higher education
and research (IISER) in Bihar. The new IISER
will be opened one each in Pune, Mohali and
Kolkata!!!!!
To add a little more, our Prime Minister
announced the setting up of a National institute
of Science Education and Research in
Bhubaneswar.
Sir/ Madam, in the sixty years of independence
it is ironical that neighboring states like UP
has 2 IITs, 1 IIIT, 1 IIM, 2 central University
(BHU and AMU), Bengal has been blessed with 1
IIT, 1 IIM, 1 IIIT, Indian institute of
Statistics, and some central University like
Shanti Niketan.
Just to bring to your kind notice, Roorkee has
been elevated to IIT recently, even though IIT-Delhi
is geographically very close to it. Similarly
IIT has been opened in Allahabad even though IIT
Kanpur is only 200 KM away.
But Bihar has no central university no IIT, no
IIIT no IIIM, no IISER no IISC, no DRDO or other
scientific labs even though Bihar is among the
states which contributes highest number of
students in these institutions.
I feel that this is an act of deliberate denial
of rights of more than 6 crore people so that
they can be subjugated with extra financial
burden for getting education. For past 40 years
all of us have been paying taxes like rest of
the country, then why this discrepancy? It seems
that we are living in the colonial era where
government used to collect tax from the citizens
and do no good work for the welfare of common
people.
Sir/ Madam, The denial also has a great impact
on our socio-economic condition, some of which I
am listing down:-
1) No serious research on flood control: Absence
of any such institute means we do not have world
class professionals working in the state. If we
had some institutes like these, then some
scientists and engineers would have worked on
the flood problem in Bihar and might have come
up with some solution. The tangible example of
this is the work done by Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis
on floods when Bengal was the greatest sufferer.
2) Employment Generation: These institutes help
to develop the ecosystem for a science and
technology-based industry in and around them.
This helps in attracting lots of investment from
the world as well as act as a seed to produce
world class professionals and entrepreneurs.
3) Help in motivating the youths to dream a
better life: These temples of higher education
also provide ambition to the crores of young
children to choose science and technology as a
profession and stay away from any unlawful
activity.
I know most of these are known to all of us, but
then I feel that till we fight it out we will
not get our due and will only be known for bad
incidents like Bhagalpur, flood victims,
abductions etc.
I am requesting all of you to PLEASE highlight
this issue and let our motherland get the due.
All the 6 crore people of Bihar who want their
children to grow and Bihar to prosper will
remember you all for your contribution towards
their better future.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is
that good men do nothing.
Yours Sincerely,
A Fellow Bihari, who is forced to study and work
outside Bihar, like thousands of brothers and
sisters for every home in Bihar.
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Comments: |
There
definitely is lopsidedness in the
growth of premier institutions of
higher learning in our country and
case of Bihar has very been well
illustrated in the write up of Mr.
Verma.
In fact prior to bifurcation of
Bihar at least we had Indian School
of Mines (ISM) and XLRI which had a
national standing in their
respective fields. But now there is
not even a single Institute of
repute in Bihar! Certainly a state
of size of Bihar needs some premier
institutes.
We had in past some medical colleges
like Prince of Wales Medical College
(as PMCH was known at the time) and
Darbhanga Medical College which
attracted lots of students from far
flung corners of country and even
abroad. But today they are a pale
shadow of their past and have all
the signs of decline and
degeneration. IGIMS which was
started with much fanfare has also
not lived up to its original idea of
`a La AIIMS of Bihar. Whenever I
have a chance to visit any big
medical institution outside Bihar I
see a disproportionately large
number of fellow Biharis lined up
for treatment. But healthcare in
Bihar is altogether a different
story.
Gazing through our feudal prism we
were very late in realizing the true
potential of management education.
Thanks to presence of Tatas at least
we had XLRI in past but mainland
Bihar never had any keen interest in
that area. But thing to be noted is
that it was started by private
initiative not government.
For a truly premier institute to be
established, patronage of central
government or a big private
initiative (like Tatas in case of
XLRI) is a must. Government of Bihar
should canvass and lobby for it at
right places. At least we have a
representative in the central
council of ministers from Bihar who
is associated with Ministry of
education. His good offices could be
certainly of help.
Apart from Institute of higher
learning we also have to do a lot in
improving our basic education
system. Our general colleges and
universities have not even a remote
connection with academic excellence.
They are more in news for strikes
and disruptions rather than academic
laurels. - Abhishek Kumar,
Chennai - Sept. 7, 2007 |
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