A bill to set up one more central university in Bihar was taken up for discussion in the Lok Sabha today.
The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2014, was first introduced by HRD Minister Smriti Irani in the House in August.
The new central university, named after Mahatma Gandhi, would come up at Motihari in East Champaran.
Champaran was the place where Gandhi jee experimented with the idea of 'satyagrah' during the 'neel andolan' (indigo movement) in 1917.
The university at Motihari would have its jurisdiction north of river Ganges in the state.
At present there is just one central university in Bihar and that is located in Gaya.
The bill also proposes to rename the existing central university in the state as 'Central University of South Bihar'.
Intervening in the discussion, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, who had made efforts for getting another central university in Bihar, said the central government's decision to have the new university and to name it after Mahatma Gandhi is a historical decision.
He also recalled that the previous HRD Minister was not in favour of having the university named after Mahatma Gandhi.
During the discussion, Nagendra Kumar Pradhan (BJD) drew attention to the state of affairs at Odisha's central university located in Koraput and said there are no adequate number of staff at that university.
BJP member Ashwani Kumar Choubey said efforts should be made to revive Vikramshila University.
S S Ahluwalia (BJP) emphasised the need for good environment in university campuses and also the security of students. He also urged the government to look at setting up a university in Darjeeling.
Rajendra Agrawal (BJP) demanded that Meerut University should be given the status of a central university.
