Varsity chair to promote RSS leader’s ideals gets UGC nod

NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Wednesday cleared a proposal which will allow universities to set up a chair to promote the ideals of Deendayal Upadhyaya, one of the founders of Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the earlier avatar of the BJP, sources said.

A proposal to create a chair in the name of Upadhyaya, a key RSS ideologue, came up in the meeting of the Commission held on Wednesday and was approved, they added.

So far UGC has established chairs in the name of 29 personalities including Mahatma Gandhi, and Motilal Nehru, father of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. An expert committee of five members was formed for this purpose last year and in its meeting that took place on December 2, 2016 it had passed a resolution aimed at directing universities to establish the chair.

Officials confirmed that the UGC would bear the expenses for this chair and that universities can now send their proposals for it. “Generally two or three chairs are constituted in the name of a person. Central and state universities will be allowed to send their proposals and a final decision will be taken by the UGC,” said a source.

The committee had decided to set up Swami Dayanand Saraswati Chair in Central University of Haryana, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Chair in Central University of Punjab, Swami Dayanand Saraswati Chair in Annamalai University and Sri Guru Gobind Singh Chair in Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University.

There are chairs established in the name of noble laureates also.

OFFICIALS CONFIRMED THAT THE UGC WOULD BEAR THE EXPENSES FOR THIS CHAIR AND THAT UNIVERSITIES CAN NOW APPLY FOR IT