The Hindu : New Delhi News : Academics urge Nitish to save Ayurvedic college from closure

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Academics urge Nitish to save Ayurvedic college from closure

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Several members of the academic community in the Capital hailing from Bhagalpur have written an open letter to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar drawing his attention to the reported closure of one of the oldest Ayurvedic colleges in that district and made a strong appeal to him to intervene and “save” the institution.

“We are shocked to know about the recent talk of closing down of one of the oldest Ayurvedic medical colleges, Government Shri Yatindera Narayan Astang Ayurvedic Medical College of Nathnagar in Bhagalpur,” they wrote, adding that the institution was established in 1946 by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who subsequently become the first President of the country, and has been functioning since then.

‘In interest of Bihar’

“It has produced eminent doctors and served society since its inception. Today it is very difficult to establish an institution and to make it run. Therefore, we must preserve this institution at any cost in the larger interest of Bihar,” the academicians added.

According to S. K. Jain, a reader in the Department of Political Science at Delhi University who belongs to Bhagalpur, there have been reports that the Bihar Government is mulling over closing down some of these Ayurvedic colleges due to several reasons.

The signatories to the letter include Prof. Subodh Narayan Malakar, Prof. Partha S. Ghosh, Dr. Ajay Kumar, Prof. S. K. Kejriwal, Dr. Ranjit Saha from Jawaharlal Nehru University; Dr. Nand Kishore Mandal, Dr. S. K. Jain from Delhi University; and Prof. Jawahar Pandey and Dr. Sanjay Suman from the National Council of Educational Research and Training.

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