Five years down the line, Darjeeling Hill University campus is just an incomplete boundary wal

YAWAN MOTHAY, EOI, KALIMONG, 2 MAY 2023 : The West Bengal assembly on July 31, 2018, passed a Bill to establish Darjeeling Hills University (DHU) at Jogighat in Mungpoo, but even after five years the construction of DHU remains has been limited to an incomplete boundary wall. 

At present, students of DHU are forced to acquire online education. It is also said that many students have left DHU because they are facing various problems in acquiring online education. 

The West Bengal government sanctioned Rs32.26 crore for the construction of university infrastructure in 2018, but the only construction so far is an unfinished boundary wall. Due to lack of budget, even the boundary wall is incomplete, say sources. Political experts say this situation of DHU has exposed the in competence of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration authorities. 

The three MLAs from the Darjeeling hills and the GTA Chief Executive could not get the government to finish the construction of the DHU campus in so many years. It has been proposed that the Darjeeling Hills University be temporarily shifted to the Presidency University campus in Kurseong.

A few days ago, DHU Vice Chancellor Prem Poddar wrote a letter to GTA Chief Executive and the West Bengal Education Minister regarding this matter. He has mentioned in the letter that classes are being conducted in this university only in online mode. 

 Due to the inadequate infrastructure in the building of ITI Mungpoo, other activities are hampered. It has been mentioned in the letter that the almost complete infrastructure at Kurseong for the hill campus of Presidency University seems to be suitable for the temporary location of DHU. The infrastructure of the second campus of the Presidency University is, however, almost ready. 

There is a five-storey administrative and academic building in the office of the Presidency Campus. There are separate structures for staff quarters, a boys' hostel and a girls' hostel. The establishment of this campus was announced in 2015 by Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee and Rs 74 crore was sanctioned for this purpose. If the DHU operates from this campus it would be of great help. 

The students and the staff need a place to sit to attend classes. No permanent teacher has been appointed in DHU and teachers from North Bengal University and other colleges are conducting the classes. Currently, DHU offers postgraduate courses in English, Political Science, Nepali, History, Mass Communication and Mathematics. 

It may be recalled that in 2020, the State Government sent three names to the then Governor of Bengal, Jagdeep Dhankar, for the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of DHU. 

However, the Governor had decided to reject the priority order of the search committee appointed by the State Government. This had stalled the entire process till November 2021 after which the State Government had finally decided to assign the Vice Chancellor of North Bengal University the additional charge of DHU.