Odisha Intellectuals urge Hon. PM Narendra Modi to set up BHU branch in Puri

 This was urged by the Prof. Digambara Patra American University of Beirut. Prof. Digambara Patra in his letter urged PM that, “One of the general sentiment of Odisha people that your Govt. should establish branches of Banaras Hindu University in char-dham in East (Puri), West (Dwaraka), South (Rameswaram) and North (Badrinath). Such institution will focus in advance learning, education and research using modern science and technology that are of relevance to ancient Indian wisdom, culture, scientific ideas, health and medicine to largely benefit human civilisation in today’s world. Establishing such University branches in Puri, Dwaraka, Rameswaram and Badrinath will not only converge modern science, technology, medicine and theory with the ancient Indian practice that could be of high beneficial for today’s world but also ancient Indian philosophy, humanities etc hidden in many different aspects of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, etc could be tapped through modern theories, philosophy, science and technology.”

Prof. Patra further added that a National Rural University or institute of technology for rural development should be established in Kalahandi. It should be noted that earlier Prof. Chita Baral and USA-based entrepreneur Dhirendra Kar echoed same sentiments and writes PMO and HRD Ministry regarding the setting up of BHU branch in Puri, NRU in Kalahandi.

Full Text of letter Prof. Digambara Patra to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi

Dear Honorable Prime Minister Sri Modi,

At first let me congratulate you heartily for the grand election success for BJP and alliance under your able leadership. This happened first time in Indian history for a non-congress party and first time since last 30 years for any political party.

I am also very thankful to you for including a very able and committed tribal leader like Sri Jual Oram from western Odisha in your cabinet. Another Odia leader Sri Dharmendra Pradhan found a place in your cabinet as a upper house MP from Bihar. This shows your party’s great affection towards Odisha and Odia, unlike the previous congress party during UPA-II which had not given a single minister position to the tribal and backward western bordering Odisha that had elected six congress MPs in 2009, one of them was a former chief minister and other one was a former union minister.

You have always touched the sentiments of all Odia people, when you equate your native birth place “Somnathdham” and “Jagannath Dham”. Your spiritual attachment towards lord Jagannath and personal visit to Puri echo the sentiment of all Odia people, who consider lord Jagannath above all religion, caste, creed, etc and part of Odia living and culture. Therefore, despite having a popular CM as Sri Naveen Patnaik, you remained as most popular personal choice for PM in Odisha irrespective of electoral results.

1). In the past, previous UPA Govt. had proposed and established branches of Aligarh Muslim University in various other states that also focuses on Islamic studies along with other education. At the same time values of ancient Indian practice in human health and medicine are getting widely popular recently. For example, curcumin, an ingredient of turmeric or haldi, that is coincidentally of my scientific research interest is being realised to be substance that can help in curing cancer, Alzheimer disease etc, there are few reports such substance could lower high blood pressure, bad cholesterol and higher sugar level in human body. Many such ancient Indian practice has recently caught the imagination of modern scientists.

One of the general sentiment of Odisha people that your Govt. should establish branches of Banaras Hindu University in char-dham in East (Puri), West (Dwaraka), South (Rameswaram) and North (Badrinath). Such institution will focus in advance learning, education and research using modern science and technology that are of relevance to ancient Indian wisdom, culture, scientific ideas, health and medicine to largely benefit human civilisation in today’s world. Establishing such University branches in Puri, Dwaraka, Rameswaram and Badrinath will not only converge modern science, technology, medicine and theory with the ancient Indian practice that could be of high beneficial for today’s world but also ancient Indian philosophy, humanities etc hidden in many different aspects of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, etc could be tapped through modern theories, philosophy, science and technology.

2). Similarly, development of Bhawanipatna, centrally located in KBK-Kandhamal districts and also in South Western Odisha dominated by tribal, will impact economic growth of one of the most backward and tribal pocket in India. Central Govt. has already identified Bhawanipatna along with Bhubaneswar in Odisha under the program to improve socio-economic condition of urban poor.  I urge you to kindly include Bhawanipatna among 100 new cities proposed by your Govt. enabling with the latest in technology, infrastructure etc.

3). At the same time, a national rural university (a detailed proposal is attached for consideration) or institute of technology for rural development should be established in Kalahandi as justified in the attached proposal.

I hope you will sincerely consider these three cases and do the needful.

Thank you and with best regards

Digambara Patra PhD

Associate Professor

Department of Chemistry

American University of Beirut

P.O. Box: 11-0236, Riad El Solh

Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon

http://staff.aub.edu.lb/~dp03/

A  Proposal  for  “National  Rural  University”   or   “National  Institute  of  Rural  Technology”    

Background:     

For  various  socially  challenged  or  weak  groups,  the  Union  Government  of  India   has   been   establishing   specialized   Institutions/Universities   for   minority   (such   as   Aligarh  Muslim  University),  rural  (such  as  Indira  Gandhi  National  Rural  University),   Women,  etc  under  central  university  act.      On  the  other  hand  institutions  such  as  IITs,  NITs,  AIIMS,  IIM,  Central  Universities,   proposed   Innovative   Universities,   etc   have   been   being   established   towards   generating  high  quality  human  resource  and  research  in  the  country.        Most  of  these  high  quality  institutions  are  located  in  either  state  capital  region  or   large   urban   area.   Despite   India   has   higher   percentage   of   rural   than   urban   population,  the  number  of  urban  students  qualifying  into  high  quality  institutions   such  as  IIT,  NIT,  AIIMS,  IIM,  IISc,  Central  Universities  etc  compared  to  their  rural   counterpart  clearly  shows  that  the  urban  population  has  an  upper  hand  to  enter   these   institutions   due   to   (i)   easy   access   to   these   institution   for   reference   and   guidance,   (ii)   various   available   coaching   centers   in   the   urban   area   to   train   and   qualify   for   the   national   entrance   test,   (iii)   better   awareness   and   economic   condition  of  urban  population  to  support  their  children  through  coaching,  and  last   but   not   the   least   (iv)   Government   apathy   towards   rural   and   backward   cluster   while  establishing  such  high  quality  institution  across  the  nation.      Due  to  lack  of  accessibility,  awareness  and  economic  condition,  large  section  of   rural  populations  irrespective  of  communities  are  relatively  left  in  void  compared   to  their  urban  counterparts  when  it  comes  to  access  to  quality  education,  bringing   differences  in  economical  conditions  and  opportunities,  which  finally  encourages   large  rural  migration  to  urban  areas  from  rural  and  backward  cluster  of  India.

Kalahandi  is  known  for  rural  mass  migration,  whereas  major  cities  in  the  nation   are  getting  increasingly  populated  and  polluted  due  to  large  rural  migration,  some   of  the  report  claims  these  rural  migrations  to  urban  area  in  India  could  be  one  of   the  highest  in  the  world.        Additionally,   large   part   of   the   nation   is   rural   areas   and   existing   methods   and   technology  applied  to  solve  rural  problems  is  equally  non-­‐reliable  and  inefficient   like   found   to   solve   urban   problem,   which   justify   the   need   for   modern   new   technology,   creativity   and   innovation   to   solve   rural   problem   through   Rural   University.      Due  to  inadequate  &  poor  quality  of  human  resource  generation,  social  imbalance   is   increasing   in   backward   clusters   of   the   nation,   which   is   encouraging   Maoists   activities   and   other   social   dissidents.   This   is   being   growingly   witnessed   in   Kalahandi  and  neighboring  backward  cluster  since  past  decade.        Similarly,  large  part  of  the  rural  area,  especially  backward  pockets  and  cluster  in   the  nation,  need  quality  human  resource  generation  to  boost  local  development   by  triggering  growth  of  local  economy.      Economists  also  agree  investment  while  establishing  National/Central  Universities   mainly   goes   to   construction   sectors,   which   directly   boost   local   economy.   Such   investment  is  always  given  to  metro  or  large  urban  areas  like  Bhubaneswar  of  the   country  by  totally  ignoring  rural  India  like  Kalahandi,  though  quality  can  still  be   maintained  while  establishing  such  institution  in  rural  and  backward  cluster.      Proposal:      For   solving   rural   problems   and   generating   high   quality   human   resource   in   the   socially  backward  rural  pockets,  India  should  build  “National  Rural  University”  in   the   line   of   Central   University   in   each   rural,   backward   and   economically   poor   pocket  and  cluster  across  the  nation.      To   begin   with,   an   institution   in   the   name   after   father   of   the   nation   such   as   “Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  University  at  Kalahandi”  could  be  made  as  the   father  of  the  nation  was  a  great  advocate  of  rural  economy  and  development.  He  had   visualized   and   dreamt   to   develop   the   nation   through   rural   development   programs  and  rural  economy.

Location:      Kalahandi  is  right  place  to  start  for  the  proposed  “National  Rural  University”  or   “National  Institute  of  Rural  Technology”  because    t   is   among   the   ten   most   backward   district   and   among   five  most  backward  parliament  constituency  in  the  nation   o Kalahandi   is  well   known   for   backwardness,   poverty   and   rural  population   o It  is  centrally  located  among  all  the  backward  KBK  districts   o It   is   also   the   central   point   while   including   other   rural   and   backward  region  in  Odisha  such  as  Boudh,  Kandhamal,  Bargarh   and  Gajpati  districts,     o Thus,   Kalahandi   is   the   central   point   for   western   bordering  Odisha  in  air  distance  that  is  rural  and  backward.   o The   Food   Security   Atlas   of   Rural   Orissa   2008   states   that   in   2005-­‐06,  the  infant  mortality  rate  in  Kalahandi  region  stood  at   119  per  1,000  live  births,  the  highest  in  the  world;  the  district   also  has  the  highest  malaria  mortality  in  the  region     o According  to  the  last  census,  the  literacy  rate  in  the  region  is

very  low      Thus,  Kalahandi  can  serve  as  the  location  to  serve  the  rural  and  backward  rural   cluster  in  South  Western  Orissa,  one  of  the  poorest  parts  in  South  Asia.

Concept: 

The  basic  concept  behind  the  proposed  “National  Rural  University”  or  “National   Institute  of  Rural  Technology”  at  Kalahandi  includes

(1) Educational  and  research  program  for  development  of  rural  economy   (2) Modern  engineering  and  technology  to  solve  rural  problems   (3) Health  and  super-­‐specialist  hospital  in  rural  and  backward  cluster   (4) Quality  human  resource  development  in  rural  and  backward  cluster.

(5) Human  resource  generation  to  meet  rural  demand   (6) Rural  management  program   (7) Study  in  local  culture  and  language   (8) Education   and   biotechnological   research   toward   solving   rural   problem   in   agriculture,  horticulture,  animal  husbandry  and  forestry  giving  emphasis  in   the  rural  and  backward  cluster   (9) Rural  planning,  architecture  and  communication  for  backward  cluster.

Implementation:

The   proposed   “National   Rural   University   at   Kalahandi”   can   be   established   though   Governmental   initiative   or   Public   Private   Partnership   (PPP).   Since   rural   economy  of  rural  and  backward  cluster  is  in  general  agriculture  and  forest  based,   the   economic   condition   is   not   lucrative   towards   establishment   of   PPP   based   institutions.  Therefore,  emphasis  can  be  given  to  establish  such  institution  though   Ministry  of  Human  Resource  Development  or  Ministry  of  Rural  Development  or   partnership  of  both  the  ministries.

Since  KBK  region  is  considered  as  the  most  backward  pocket  and  cluster  in  the   nation  and  Kalahandi  is  the  central  location  of  KBK-­‐Kandhamal,  most  backward  &   rural   pocket   of   India,   National   Rural   University   would   be   established   at   Kalahandi.  Subsequently,   the  branch   or  off   campus   of   the  proposed   University,   (which  coud  possibly  be  independent  later  on)  can  be  established  in  the  other   rural   and   backward   pocket   and   cluster   in   various   other   states   such   as   Bundelkhand,  etc  distributed  across  the  nation.