Pm Urged To Restore Original Bhu Act

THE OLD students of the Benaras Hindu University (BHU) have urged Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that the original BHU Act, enacted in 1915, should be restored by quashing the present amendment as it is totalitarian in character.

The present Act of the BHU, according to a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister by these old students, was a temporary measure replacing an ordinance promulgated by the Vice President, acting as President, on July 17, 1969. The memorandum has been signed by former Governor Bhishm Narain Singh, former presidents of BHU students' union Anandsehwar Prasad Singh and Devbrata Mazumdar, scholar Namwar Singh, Members of Parliament Lal Muni Chaube, Manoj Sinha, Vratin Sen Gupta and Ved Prakash Goyal, ex-members of Parliament Harikishore Singh, Devendra Dwivedi, Harikesh Bahadur and journalist Ram Bahadur Rai.

 

The memorandum says that the present Act is an amendment of the original Act. However, it has changed the basic features and fundamental structure of the 1915 Act. Although few amendments were made to the original Act, the basic democratic structure remained. But the 1969 amendment has made a "mockery of the original Act" and the BHU, which was in the forefront of the Independence struggle, is suffering. According to these students, there is rampant corruption in the BHU as this largest university is still "groaning" under a nominated set-up, as envisaged by the present Act. As these nominated members assemble on rare occasions, the budgetary money for maintenance of buildings, laboratories and instruments generally lapse resulting in serious resource crunch.

Former BHU student and Ghazipur MP Manoj Sinha has also written a letter to President K. R. Narayanan requesting that a visitorial inquiry, as envisaged under Section 5 (1) of the BHU Act should be ordered to check the deterioration in the BHU affairs. President Narayanan is the Visitor of the BHU. "Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi must seriously consider this option of making a recommendation for (visitorial) inquiry to the President," the letter states.

Mr Sinha in his missive has complained against the present Vice Chancellor of the BHU, who has "reduced the executive council of the University, though vested with all the academic, administrative and managerial powers, to nothing."