The son et lumiere (light and sound show) at Jorasanko Thakurbari, lying defunct for five years, is all set to be revived.

But the piece of news has Rabindra Bharati University (RBU) — one of its campuses is housed at the Thakurbari — on the boil, as the show is being resurrected with funds earned from the distant education programmes.

The university will spend around Rs 50 lakh to recast the show. The target date for unveiling is Ponchishey Baisakh, Tagore’s birth anniversary.

Defending the university’s decision, registrar Santosh Ghorui said the amount is being taken as loan from the account maintained for the distance education programmes.

“Once funds for the show are arranged, the money will be deposited back in the account,” added Ghorui, who is also director of the university’s distance education courses.

“The fund for distance education courses will not be misused,” asserted vice-chancellor Bharati Mukherjee. “The proposal for reviving the show has been approved by our planning board but the funding is yet to be finalised.”

The new show will be titled Indian National Movement and Tagore House. The earlier edition — set up in the late 1990s at a cost of Rs 25 lakh, sponsored by Union tourism ministry — was called Bengal Renaissance and Tagore House.

The previous show — set up with help from theatre personalities like Manoj Mitra and Ashoke Mukhopadhyay and light technician Kanishka Sen — had to be stopped as the gadgets got damaged after years of neglect.

“If the authorities are so keen on running the show, why did they not take proper care of the gadgets?” asked a senior teacher of the university.

Amalendu Sain, secretary of Rabindra Bharati Society, said: “The university had incurred a huge loss following the closure of the earlier show. Care should be taken to ensure the new one is feasible.”

Another matter of concern for the teachers and officials is that the university has not yet informed the Centre or the state government about its plan.

Citing the the State Control of Expenditure Act, an official said: “RBU being a state-aided university, the authorities should have informed the state government that they are planning to borrow the amount for reviving the show from the distance education fund.” The issue, he added, will be discussed in detail in the meetings of the university’s executive court and council next week.

More than 40,000 students are enrolled with the 11 distance education courses of the university. The fees start from Rs 3,000.