Unauthorised shops on the Darbhanga House campus in Patna. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, May 13: Darbhanga House under Patna University is faced with an “outsider” problem.

Patna University claims to have many structures of historical importance, one being Darbhanga House, where classes for many postgraduate courses are held.

Darbhanga House campus spread over 3.5 acres is in a miserable state because of encroachment on large portions of the quarters and open space. The biggest hurdle is the large number of unauthorised shops on the premises.

A few years back, the state human resource development (HRD) department had asked Patna University authorities to declare some of its buildings as heritage structures and hand over these institutions to Archaeological Survey of India for its preservation. Darbhanga House, also called Nav Lakha building was built by Maharaja Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga which also houses an ancient Kali temple. “As the building houses the temple, many shops sell puja-related items and flowers on the campus,” said Balram Tiwary, head of the Hindi department.

On Saturdays and Tuesdays, devotees make a beeline to visit the temple. Because of the huge crowd, teachers and students of Darbhanga House have to park their vehicles on the road or at the adjacent Patna College.

Tiwary added that students sometimes have conflicts with devotees over trivial issues.

To compound woes, even beggars can be seen crowding at Darbhanga House. On the days of puja, beggars can be seen sitting at the main entrance of Darbhanga House.

Sources said most of the shops selling puja items and flowers are owned by employees and their relatives working at Darbhanga House as Grade IV employees. A senior teacher of Darbhanga House on condition of anonymity said: “Removing these shops could hurt the religious sentiments of the people and so neither the district administration nor the varsity authorities remove these structures.”

Apart from these unauthorised shops, the other problem that Darbhanga House faces is encroachment of government quarters meant for Grade IV employees. These quarters have been encroached by government employees who have retired from the university but they are not willing to vacate the quarters. Moreover, many university employees have extended these quarters without taking prior permission from university authorities. One can also find cattle sheds erected on the campus of Darbhanga House. These cattle sheds are owned by the employees of Darbhanga House making the campus dirty because of cow dung.

It is unbearable for anyone to pass through the corridor connecting Darbhanga House and Patna College because of the stench of cow dung and human excreta.

Ejaz Ali Arshad, the head of department of Urdu and in-charge of Darbhanga House, said: “We have written letters to university authorities several times for removal of shops from the campus but no action has been taken. Moreover, despite having an alternative route from the rear end of the temple, the devotees never use it.”

Arshad said there are more than 50 unauthorised families living on the campus and despite several reminders they are not willing to vacate the quarters. The other problem is lack of fund and manpower needed for maintenance of the campus. He added of the nine sanctioned posts of sweepers, there are only three and they are irregular.