People of various walks of life in Puri and Bhubaneswar as well as Odias from all over the world are demanding that the Central Government establish a Puri campus of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and perhaps similar campuses in the other three Dhams of Hindus in India.
They submitted a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee in this regard during his just-concluded visit to the State, said sources.
leading NRO (Non-resident Odia) Professor Chitta Baral referred to the recent setting up of new campuses of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) (originally established in Aligarh) in Malappuram in Kerala and Murshidabad in West Bengal.
The proposed budget for each of the AMU centres is Rs 400 crore. There is also a new Bill in Parliament for a Centrally-funded Women’s University in Rae Bareily in Uttar Pradesh.
The people of Puri are of the view that while it is perfectly all right for the Central Government to establish multiple new campuses of the Aligarh Muslim University across the country as well as multiple minority universities, the Char Dhams of Hinduism, Puri, Dwaraka, Rameswaram and Badrinath, should not be neglected with respect to a knowledge support system and their potentials should be maximised with establishment of premiere university campuses such as of the BHU.
In particular, the generations of families that serve the temples are poor and academically backward in these areas. Each of these areas also has issues that need the urgent help of scientists and researchers. The recent floods at Badrinath and the coast erosion and management issues at Puri are stark reminders of this.
On the other hand, like Banaras, Puri and the other Hindu Dhams have many scholars and persons with deep knowledge of various kinds including ancient Shastras. They also have nearby villages teeming with tradition, energy and talent of various kinds. For example, the village of Raghurajpur near Puri abounds with artists and artisans of various forms such as master painters and dancers.
The people demand a BHU Puri campus with units focused on modern subjects such as Business Administration and law as well as on subjects related to culture, fine arts, performance arts and spiritualism. They do not want to politicise this issue and, therefore, have not sought help of any political parties. This demand has full support of the State’s apolitical organisations such as Agami Odisha.