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Shambhu Nath Guha as vice-chancellor of Aryabhatt Knowledge University (AKU) talks of the convenience of all government and private engineering, medical, pharmacy and management institutions functioning under the common umbrella of AKU to Roshan Kumar. Nurturing the varsity from its birth, Guha elucidates on the reasons behind its slow but steady growth and explains why he thinks that the standard of education will improve once all institutions come together
Extra edge over other varsities
What is AKU and how it is different from other regular universities?
Established in 2010 by chief minister Nitish Kumar, Aryabhatt Knowledge University (AKU) aims to conduct and facilitate affiliation to all institutions — technical, medical, management — under one umbrella. Under AKU, all colleges and institutions imparting professional courses, such as engineering, medical, pharmacy, nursing and law — will be governed by a same act and strictures with common syllabus and same examinations.
Acts of governance
How does the starting of AKU affect the functioning of engineering and medical colleges and other institutions?
All institutes affiliated to AKU will have a common syllabus and pursue a semester system of examinations. These institutions will follow a same examination schedule and their results will be announced simultaneously. With medical, engineering, pharmacy, management and other colleges coming under the ambit of AKU, there will be little scope of delay in publication of results. There will be fair play in publication of results and the standard of education will be raised, particularly in medical and engineering colleges.
Constituent institutions
What are few major institutions that will come under AKU?
Already, the six medical and as many engineering colleges run by the state government have been affiliated to AKU. Some of the prominent ones are Patna Medical College and Hospital, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, Patna, and Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital, Muzaffarpur. Among the engineering institutions that would come under AKU are Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology, Bhagalpur Engineering College and Gaya Engineering College.
Time to shape up
How much time would AKU take to shape up as nothing concrete has been done in the past two years?
It will take two more years for AKU to get its final shape. In May this year, the university got its own act and strictures, helping the appointment process to speed up. The institute is moving at a slow but steady pace. Nal- anda Open University, in its initial phase, also had to struggle with nothing concrete done there too.
Pace of growth
What is the main reason behind snail's pace growth of AKU?
The snail's pace growth of AKU can be attributed to its files being stuck in the administrative machinery. The chief minister, the human resource development (HRD) minister and the principal secretary are more enthusiastic about the project but the files do not move at the right pace. The chief minister and the education minister are hard pressed with many other jobs. When the institution was established, I had requested the state government to depute two senior persons each from the HRD and the science and technology departments to monitor the work. But it did not work out. The chief minister has entrusted all work related to AKU with the university administration and me. We have to look after appointment of senior persons also. In March 2010, the chief minister set up AKU by appointing me as the first vice-chancellor followed by two retired professors and two retired staff from the science college.
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Aryabhatt Knowledge University |
New campus
Where is the AKU building coming up and when would it shift to the new campus?
A state-of-the-art building to house AKU is coming up at Mithapur. The AKU campus is spread over an area of 7.6 acres. The building will have state-of-the-art structures with three blocks of seven storeys each. Of them, two blocks will be limited for office purposes, while research work will be carried out in the third. We will conduct research in nanotechnology, biotechnology and other fields of study. We hope that AKU shifts to its new campus in two years. Four construction firms from New Delhi, Calcutta, Noida and Ranchi have approached us to construct the buildings. But we are interested in the design submitted by the New Delhi-based firm.
Private college
Has any private institution come under the AKU?
The first college to be affiliated to AKU was a private institution from Bhojpur district. Till now, five to six private institutions have come under AKU. Moreover, it is not mandatory for private institutions to come under AKU but government colleges have been asked to remain under AKU. With AKU taking the final shape, we hope that more private institutions will come under the university.
Standard of institutions
Does the standard of engineering and medical colleges in Bihar good?
The standard of engineering and medical colleges in Bihar is very bad owing to severe staff crunch and lack of necessary infrastructure. There are colleges in Bihar, which even run with a single faculty member. The staff and teacher strength are the biggest problems for these engineering and medical colleges. Even if certain colleges have adequate number of teachers, they do not have necessary infrastructure. Laboratories are in poor shape with no equipment. Technical education had been a key priority in the state and many technical institutions have been established in different periods of time. Among the most prestigious institutes of the state is the Bihar College of Engineering, which was converted into the National Institute of Technology in 2004.
What had you been if you were not a teacher or an academician?
I would have been a musician. I had great interest in music. Music, especially Rabindrasangeet, was given much importance in our family. Even today, I relax by listening to good classical music and Rabindrasangeet. Apart from music, I had deep interest in sports, as I was in NCC during my college days. When I became the principal of Patna Science College, I revived the NCC in the college, which was defunct for years.
About SN Guha
Born in Khagaria in 1946 in an educated Bengali family, Guha is an academician and a retired principal. He completed his matriculation from Raja Ram Mohan Roy Seminary School in Patna and his graduation from Patna Science College in 1963 before finishing his postgraduation from same college two years later. Thereafter, Guha joined the Science College as a lecturer. In 2001, Guha was appointed the head of the physics department in Science College. Later, he was appointed the head of the postgraduate physics department of Patna University. In 2004, he joined Patna Science College as principal and continued to hold the post till 2008.
Raising the bar
Do government engineering and medical colleges coming under AKU help in raising their standards?
Definitely. In the next two years, all government engineering and medical colleges will come under AKU. With medical and engineering colleges coming under AKU, it will help raise their standards through common entrance and semester examinations and simultaneous publication of results. Scholars and professors from reputed institutions will prepare the syllabus of these engineering and medical colleges. AKU will monitor
the internal as well as entrance examinations for these engineering and medical colleges. AKU's prime objective would be to promote the
professional educational infrastructure in the state so that it meets the standard of national-level institutions not only at the academic-level but also at the infrastructure-level. Its main objective is to offer innovative and socially relevant job-oriented courses with a view to enhance the students’ employability.