Dhanamanjuri College to be upgraded to State University

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) will be providing additional funds for upgrading higher education and raising the enrolment ratio to a state university in Manipur.

Manipur University emerging out of the four Dhanamanjuri (DM) Colleges is expected to pass all criteria for the viability and appropriateness of a new university.

Higher education in Manipur particularly at the Post Graduation level has grown since the evening classes for post-graduation has started in Dhanmanjuri colleges.

The new departments which are to be established are the Department of Teachers training offering B.ED and M.Ed. and department for strategic analysis.

Since the past few years, enrolment in the colleges has risen fast and the admission rush is for everyone to see.

In Manipur University for the recently opened Sociology department, there were nearly three hundred applicants for 30 seats. In MCA, life sciences the story is similar. The unfortunate part of the story is about the compulsion to reject so many students, most of whom may not go anywhere due to economic factors.

The number of seats in Manipur University increased recently due to the reservation for OBCs and it is not likely to increase in most of the departments. The raising of the enrolment ratio in colleges, demands more creation of more seats at Post Graduation level.

The establishment of a State university will break the limited seats of Manipur University and expect lots of competition to get students. Not only Post Graduate students but the potential Ph.D. scholars also will benefit out of this competition.

Currently, the state has just three universities and establishing the Dhanmanjuri University would help the growing number of graduate students of the state and also promote higher education in the state .

In May 2013, Project Approval Board (PAB) of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) earmarked Rs 55 crore for setting up of Dhanmanjuri University, of which Rs 25 crore had already been released.