Jamshedpur : Jamshedpur Women’s College has been approved to become the first all women university in Jharkhand. The decision was taken in a meeting of the Project Approval Board (PAB) under the Union Ministry of Human Resources (MHRD) in Delhi on Monday.
The Jamshedpur college received green signal to upgrade itself as a university under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a centrally sponsored scheme of the central government.
As first step to boost its infrastructure, the college has been sanctioned Rs 55 crore under its first installment of funds to upgrade it as a university. The next step now lies with the state government to approve it in the cabinet under the Jharkhand State Universities Act.
As the news reached the city students, teachers and other staff of the college joined hands to celebrate by dancing and rejoicing at its Bistupur campus. Shukla Mahanty, principal, Jamshedpur Women’s College also danced with the students by releasing balloons.
” I don’t have words to express my feelings of joy and appreciation. It is a great achievement in academics and also a boost to women empowerment. We have plans to take education to a newer height and we just hope it gets a quick approval from the state cabinet,” said Mahanty.
The Jamshedpur Women’s College which was a constituent college earlier will be the first all women university in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar and Chhattisgarh too.
The district administration has already identified a 25 acre land in Balianta on NH-33 and about 20 km away from the city to develop the university campus. The present campus in Bistupur which will remain a part is around eight acre.
It may be noted that Jamshedpur Women’s College was established in 1953 with aim to provide the women of Jamshedpur a platform to shape their careers and lives.
With time were the demands of the society and the nation grew and changed. The college, a constituent unit of Kolhan University, has been conferred ‘College with Potential for Excellence’ and ‘Conferment of Autonomous Status’ by University Grants Commission, New Delhi. It offers UG, PG, several vocational and add-on courses and B.Ed programmes.
The present campus was handed over to the college by Tata Steel in 1960. The science stream at the degree level was started in 1974. The college has 8109 students across 22 departments.