Pranab assures all help to AMU's new centres

Murshidabad (West Bengal)/Aligarh: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday assured all help to the Aligarh Muslim University's (AMU) centres here and at Malappuram (Kerala), as well as those planned to come up at Bihar and Maharashtra.

"The establishment of AMU's Murshidabad centre has opened a new window of enlightenment and it is destined to realize the dreams of (AMU founder) Sir Syed Ahmad Khan," said Mukherjee while addressing a public meeting at Murshidabad to mark the completion of the center's first 100 days, according to an AMU press release.

He, however, noted that there was still a lot to do.

Mukherjee urged the university authorities to set up a women's college and a women's polytechnic at Murshidabad for women's empowerment, saying no nation or community can survive without the advancement in the status of women.

He said that the central government would lend all necessary support, including the financial assistance required. He said the government had already allocated Rs.25 crore each for the AMU's Murshidabad and Malappuram centres in 2009 and Rs.50 crore each in the 2011 budget.

Further assistance would be provided for future development of these centres, he added.

Presiding over the function, AMU Vice Chancellor P.K. Abdul Azis made it clear that the new centres, though created in West Bengal and Kerala, are not exclusively meant for a particular region. These centres are modeled on AMU pattern and represent AMU traditions and values, he said, adding that the centres would become autonomous universities in next 15-20 years. IANS