Central University of South Bihar's new vice-chancellor has his goals earmarked.
Harish Chandra Singh Rathore, who took charge on Wednesday as the vice-chancellor of Central University of South Bihar (CUSB), said his priority would be to shift the transit campus from the Birla Institute of Technology-Patna campus to the one in Gaya.
Rathore, the former dean in faculty of education at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), said: "The idea behind moving to the permanent campus in Gaya is to oversee the construction work of the facility so that the work can start and the quality of the work is also maintained."
The construction work of Central University of South Bihar (CUSB)-Gaya campus earlier known as Central University of Bihar started in July last year after Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) invited tenders for construction of the campus at Panchanpur (near Gaya town), 110km south of Patna on 300 acres. Only the boundary wall has been constructed so far.
The CUSB, at present, runs from two campuses - Patna and Gaya. The campus in the state capital offers 16 postgraduate courses, while the Gaya one, which also runs from a rented building, offers four undergraduate courses.
Sources said the estimated cost of construction work in the first phase is Rs 300 crore, which includes Rs 11.74 crore for the boundary wall and the entrance plaza. The construction of the boundary wall was to be completed by January-February this year but the work got delayed by seven to eight months.
Rathore, who is considered a tough administrator, while working with BHU in different capacities, including chief proctor from 2008 to 2013, expressed displeasure over the delay in the construction of the permanent campus.
"There is no logic why, after such a long time, only the boundary wall has been constructed. The varsity will not tolerate a further delay," Rathore said. The vice-chancellor also expressed reservation over the university launching several unpopular courses, which never interested students and were not viable too.
He stressed on launching courses such as veterinary, management or even flying rather than Hindi, sociology and psychology. "Courses such as Hindi had five teachers and just one student. Veterinary, management courses, on the other hand, are not only popular but has high employability factor," the VC said.
The CUSB at present runs 20 courses, including four undergraduate ones with students' intake of 900 against the faculty strength of 74. The university has recently invited applications for filling up 66 faculty positions.
The VC added that good things from the BHU would be introduced at the CUSB so that the varsity attains a new height.
Rathore, who joined on Wednesday, is the second full-term VC of CUSB after its first and founder vice-chancellor Janak Pandey's tenure expired on February 28, 2014.
Since then the post lay vacant with varsity pro-VC, Debdas Banerjee, acting as in-charge VC of the university. Sources said because of absence of a regular VC, not much work on the administrative front has been done.
