(Above) Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal and (top) Birla Institute of Technology campus in Patna from where the Central University of Bihar has been functioning. Telegraph pictures

Patna, Aug. 16: The Centre is in no mood to go it alone in deciding the final site for setting up Central University of Bihar (CUB) and has conveyed that the decision would be taken in consultation with the state government.

The Union ministry of human resource development is against the decision of the state government to set up the university in Motihari.

Talking exclusively to The Telegraph from New Delhi, Union human resource development department minister Kapil Sibal said: “We are only against setting up the university in Motihari because the place is not well-connected.”

Sibal added that he would request the state government to again have a consultation to reach an amicable solution in finalising the site, as Motihari is not a suitable site for the central university.

Sibal had said in Parliament that the university would come up in Patna and the Centre would not give in to chief minister Nitish Kumar’s insistence on Motihari as the only location for CUB.

According to sources, the Union HRD ministry has decided to set up the university either in Bihta or in Gaya. The sources said the ministry was contemplating to set up the university in Bihta because it is near Patna and has a good road and railway connectivity. While Motihari is 250km from Patna, Bihta is 40km from the state capital. Gaya, which is 100km from Patna, too, has good road, railway and air connectivity.

According to the plan, the HRD ministry is mulling to divide 500 acres allotted for setting up Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Bihta into two parts (250 acres each) and develop both the premier institutions on it.

Sources said the CUB would have to expand vertically at Bihta with high-rise buildings and blocks. In each block there will be numerous schools and departments.

Sources said if this plan works out it would be quite different from other central universities because CUB would come up on such a huge chunk of land.

Sources said setting up CUB and IIT on 500 acres would not be a problem because IIT-Delhi functions on 100 acres and 250 acres are more than enough for setting up such universities.

Experts said several private universities are coming up these days on just 10 to 15 acres and are expanding vertically. Against this backdrop, there would be no problem for the CUB to function on 250 acres.

The Union ministry’s decision to go against Motihari would serve a major blow to the state government, especially chief minister Nitish Kumar, who was sure of the CUB coming up in Motihari.

Farmers in Motihari had “voluntarily” given 1,000 acres for the CUB, according to the Bihar government.

Protest

General secretary of Motihari Freedom Fighters’ Association Kapildeo Narayan Singh has threatened to go on a hunger strike if the CUB did not come up in Motihari.

Singh, the 105-year-old freedom fighter, is sore over the fact that Sibal is opposed to the establishment of the CUB in a land from where the struggle for Independence got a new direction.