Ruckus in House over move to abolish Rajiv Gandhi cooperative university
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management, Sivasagar, will be gone, and the government will upgrade Sivasagar College as a university. This issue created a ruckus in the State Assembly on the third day of the Autumn Session today, leading to walkouts by the Congress and an independent MLA from Sivasagar, Akhil Gogoi.
In his reply to the cut motion on higher education of supplementary demands for grants and Supplementary Appropriation for 2023–24, Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said, “The then State Government did not allocate any fund for the infrastructure of Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management, Sivasagar, while introducing the Bill for the university in 2010. That led the university to run out of a rented house. The then-government should have allocated funds for the university while introducing the bill. In the absence of funds and infrastructure, the university has to run with the bare minimum of facilities. Now, we want to upgrade Sivasagar College to Sivasagar University, which will absorb all the staff members of the Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management. With that in mind, we have brought the repeal bill of the Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management.”
The revelation stirred up a hornet’s nest in the House, with the Congress legislators and the Sivasagar MLA protesting the move tooth and nail. Opposition leader Debabrata Saikia said, “The government needs to keep Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management, Sivasagar. Why is the government allergic to this university?”
Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi said, “Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management is in my LAC. Spell it out clearly if this university will persist. Is the government allergic to the name of Rajiv Gandhi attached to the name of the university?”
After the ruckus, Congress MLAs and Akhil Gogoi staged a walkout.
Pegu then said, “The then government kept no provisions of funds for the infrastructure of the Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management, Sivasagar. However, we are allocating Rs 50 crore for the development of infrastructure for each of the new universities and Rs 10 crore for each of the universities being upgraded from colleges. The state needs more universities as the rush of students for higher education keeps rising every year.”
The Minister further said, “The gross enrollment ratio of higher education in the state is 17 percent. However, every year, around 25,000 more students apply for admission to higher education. That has compelled the state government to set up new universities and upgrade colleges into universities. The state has 19 state and central universities, plus seven private universities. We have decided to upgrade seven colleges to universities. The bills for upgrading six universities have been introduced in this session, and the bill for the other university will come later.”
Also Watch: