Nitish Kumar criticises JP University syllabus change

Patna: Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar, lashed out on the new changes imposed on the MA Politics course curriculum of Jai Prakash University and summoned the vice-chancellor and university officials to the capital for an explanation, NDTV reported.

In the syllabus, the chapters on prominent social and political activist 'Lok Nayak' Jai Prakash, after whom the University was named, and Ram Manohar Lohia were scrapped while Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay and others were included.

In a statement issued by the state education department, the CM was quoted expressing his annoyance over the "improper and "uncalled for" changes. He said that the "tradition was not followed", and he could not accept a syllabus that is against the public mood. He asked for immediate corrective steps and warned other universities in the state to consult the education department before making amendments to any syllabus. In the public interest, no such steps without the department's consultation would be allowed in the future, he said.

The issue surfaced after the Students Federation of India's (SFI) local unit raised objections. While the name stays JP University, scrapping chapters on Jayaprakash Narayan and Lohia is ironic, an SFI leader commented.

Former CM Lalu Prasad Yadav responded that he set up the University and named it after Jai Prakash. With its RSS mindset, the state government has removed the thoughts of great socialist leaders, which cannot be tolerated, he tweeted on the syllabus changes. The government must take cognisance, he added.

The opposition, RJD, has alleged a hidden agenda of RSS and the BJP backed government. The RJD president Jagdanand Singh has said that they have no issues with the inclusion of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay in the curriculum but scrapping Jayaprakash Narayan.

Meanwhile, the vice-chancellor of JP University, Faruque Ali, said that the syllabus was approved by the previous governor- and University Chancellor- but its implementation got delayed.

State Human Resource Development minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary of JDU said later that he has spoken with Governor Phagu Chauhan - former BJP MLA- and the latter had agreed to take corrective steps.

Though the issue would be resolved, this could create more friction between JDU and BJP in Bihar.