Amartya Sen at the inauguration ceremony of Nalanda University
Sen, who was personally inspired by Nitish Kumar to give his name to the institute, served the institute for nine years from 2007 to 2016, first as the chairman of the Nalanda Mentors Group and then as its chancellor from 2010
Nobel laureate and founding chancellor Amartya Sen was mentioned as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived to inaugurate the newly built campus of Nalanda University on Wednesday.
Sen, who was personally inspired by Nitish Kumar to give his name to the institute, served the institute for nine years from 2007 to 2016, first as the chairman of the Nalanda Mentors Group and then as its chancellor from 2010.
Sen, a strong critic of Modi and his government’s policies, faced criticism when then BJP leader and MP Subramanian Swamy claimed that he received a salary of Rs 50 lakh per year from Nalanda University. The university denied the allegations and said he worked without any remuneration and did not avail any facilities.
Political interference and Sen’s unceremonious exit tarnished the image of the university, which was still in its infancy. It made global intellectuals cautious about the institution.
The government failed to use Sen’s intellectual might to promote the university on the international platform and attract eminent professors in various disciplines.
Apart from the Prime Minister, Bihar Governor Rajendra Arlekar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Nalanda University Chancellor Arvind Panagariya and Vice-Chancellor Abhay Kumar Singh were present at Wednesday’s event.
Most of them conveniently forgot the origin of the new Nalanda University, which functions under the Ministry of External Affairs. Even officials emphasised the impetus given to the institute during Modi’s tenure since 2014, leaving aside the work done under previous UPA governments.Nitish was the only one who could remember the university’s founding.
“The then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had visited Bihar in March 2006 and talked about re-establishing the ancient Nalanda University. We took the initiative and requested the central government for it. However, it got delayed due to some reasons and the Bihar government enacted a law for the university and acquired 455 acres of land for it,” Nitish said.
“Kalam was the first to see the work in progress at the still-under-construction Nalanda University in 2008.” In 2010, we made another request to the Center, and a bill to establish the university was passed by the Lok Sabha. We gave the central government ownership of the land we had acquired. 2014 saw the start of these partial studies as the work moved slowly forward, according to Nitish.
