VARSITY FOR WOMEN

The proposed Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidalaya in Khanpur Kalan has addressed one worry Balwan Singh of Gamri had on his mind.

The proposed Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidalaya in Khanpur Kalan has addressed one worry Balwan Singh of Gamri had on his mind. His daughter, a student of B Sc II year, will now be able to pursue a post-graduate course. “We had never imagined this. Many girls from the villages of this area have had to abandon their ambition of higher studies for want of a post-graduate college or university here. It is our good luck that we now will have a university and that too, exclusively for girls,” beamed Singh.

Anju comes from Dighana in Jind. She is a student of B A IInd year of Bhagat Phool Singh College at Khanpur Kalan, which is situated 35 kms from Sonepat. She, too, is elated at the news that she would be able to continue in the same hostel, where she is living at present, for her further studies.

Under fire for the declining sex ratio in the state, the university is one of the efforts of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to promote education for the girl child in the state. The plan is to set up a university for women and by women spread over 500 acres of land. The Bhagat Phool Singh Kanya Gurukul already has about 200 acres across different villages and process has been started to acquire another 300 acres.

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The vice chancellor and registrar have been appointed and the academic session is set to start in 2007. With a hefty grant of Rs 15 crore that has already been released, the university is set to change the face of Khanpur Kalan.

“When I took over the reins of the state, I had it on my mind to promote the girl child as the state was deep into embarrassment because of a low sex ratio. I had announced a number of financial incentives to improve things, but knew that these would not pay until we provide better, qualitative and higher education to girls. This led to this university,” Hooda told The Indian Express. The university would both hold classes and extend affiliations to other institutions. Emphasis would be on emerging areas like information technology, computer education, medical sciences, bio-technology, environmental studies, technology and management studies.

Anita Yadav, Registrar of the university, said, “We are discussing with architects to make it a one of its kind university in the country. Since we were provided with an existing campus, it was easier for us get started.”

Karamveer Singh, Principal of the Ayurvedic College here which will be affiliated to the varsity, said, “We are sure that it would be a new era for the educational needs of the state. Our professional institutes are likely to be converted into university faculties.” The varsity campus already has a women’s college with a strength of 1200 and a girls’ school with a strength of 3000 students.