Patna, Feb. 18: Two years have passed but the site for the construction of the Central University of Bihar (CUB) is yet to be finalised.

In 2009, the Union ministry of human resource and development had approved a proposal for the establishment of 16 central universities in various parts of India, according to the Central Universities Act, 2009.

The central university in Bihar was supposed to be set up in Motihari but it is still functioning from its temporary home in BIT campus in Patna. A source said though the state government was willing to provide more than 800 acres of land for the setting up the university, the Union government feels that Motihari does not fulfil the criteria.

“The site for a central university should be economically and politically developed, having all the basic necessities like rail, road and air connectivity. The place should also be suitable for students and university employees,” said a source.

Motihari MLA Pramod Kumar, however, said the Union government was primarily responsible for the delay. Mahatma Gandhi Central University’s Sthapana Sahyog Samiti — of which Pramod is the president — recently wrote a letter to President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, urging them to speed up the process of setting up the central university at Motihari.

Mohammed Nehal, the registrar of CUB told The Telegraph: “The very idea of a central university is enormous. It requires more than 700 acres of land as the university covers undergraduate courses, postgraduate courses, PhDs, MPhils and other programmes under one roof. It also needs residential facilities for teachers, staff and students.”