MP: Barkatullah University to be renamed as Vagdevi Bhojpal University; Varsity's executive council approves proposal
Bhopal, June 4
The Executive Council of Barkatullah University in Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal unanimously approved a proposal to rename the institution as 'Vagdevi Bhojpal University', marking the first formal step in the process of changing the university's name.
Speaking about the development, Registrar of the University, Samar Bahadur Singh said the proposal to rename the institution was placed before the Executive Council meeting held on Wednesday and received unanimous approval from all members.
The registrar also stressed that the proposal would now be sent to the Madhya Pradesh government, which would take the final decision on renaming the University.
"An Executive Council meeting was held yesterday in the university during which a proposal was introduced, suggesting that Barkatullah University be renamed as 'Vagdevi Bhojpal University.' This proposal was unanimously passed by the Executive Council. The decision has now been finalised; following this resolution, I will formally write to the government regarding the necessary subsequent actions. Once the administration grants its approval, the remaining step involves issuing an official notification; this final decision will be taken at the government level," Registrar Singh told ANI.
When questioned about why it is necessary to change the name, the registrar said it was a matter of discussion but he won't make a comment on it.
"Since it is a decision of the executive council, so being a registrar of the University, I will only state that a decision has been made and we are further sending the proposal to the government. A notification will be issued from the government and after that only the name will be changed. As of now, only a proposal has been approved and based on it, we are following the further action," he added.
— ANI
Reader Comments
I'm all for respecting Indian heritage, but the timing raises eyebrows. As a student there, I hope this doesn't mean additional fees or administrative chaos. Let's focus on improving education quality, not just changing signage.
Finally! Vagdevi Bhojpal makes sense for our region's heritage. Bhojpal University is way more relatable to Madhya Pradesh's history. Long overdue change. 👏
The registrar declined to explain why they're changing it. That's suspicious. Are they ashamed of Barkatullah's legacy? We have real issues like unemployment and poor infrastructure in MP universities. This seems like distraction.
Typical... rename universities and rename roads to score political brownie points. Meanwhile, the govt should focus on hiking education budgets and stopping brain drain from smaller cities like Bhopal.
As someone who studied in India and sees this from abroad, such decisions just reinforce the 'saffronisation' narrative. Why not keep the old name and add a new building or chair named after Vagdevi? Compromise wins hearts.
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