The Union education ministry is mulling proposals to set up a National Tribal University and a National Sainik School in north Bengal, Siliguri's BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh said here on Wednesday.
“I, along with some other BJP MLAs from north Bengal, had met Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Delhi last month and requested him to consider setting up such a varsity, a Sainik School and some other educational institutions in the region,” Ghosh said.
“Recently, I received a letter from him (the Union minister) where he said that he forwarded our letter to the departments concerned for appropriate action. We are confident that our demands will be met in due course,” the MLA added.
Ghosh, who had met Pradhan on August 8, said that a considerable portion of north Bengal’s population comprises people from the tribal community.
“I had underscored that to enhance their education, a National Tribal University was needed in this region. Also, there is a trend among the youths in our region, especially in the hills, to join the defence and central security forces. That is why we need a National Sainik School here, and we have proposed that such a school come up at Bidhannagar,” said Ghosh.
Bidhannagar, located around 35km from Siliguri, is in the Darjeeling district and close to North Dinajpur.
The Siliguri MLA also said that North Bengal University — the oldest and largest state-run varsity in the region — has joined hands with the Indian army to open a research centre named the North Bengal University Research Centre on Diplomacy and War, to take up research work in different fields in association with the armed forces.
“The varsity also offers a master's in strategic and area studies,” he said.
He and other MLAs also requested Pradhan to set up some other institutions like the National Institute of Technology, a central library-cum-language research centre and a National Institute of Plantations in the region, he said.
“These institutions are necessary to provide career-oriented courses to students and youths of north Bengal,” said the MLA.