Gandhian studies, anyone?     

The department of Gandhian Studies at Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University was first conceived by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, hailed as ‘Rashtrakavi’, when he was the Vice-Chancellor in the 1960s. But it took off only in 1980 at the initiative of Prof. Ramji Singh, who became the first head of the department.

The department boasts of having guided 100 Ph.D. scholars and conferred 3,000 post-graduate degrees. After he retired, Prof. Singh donated his collection of 5,000 books and his handwritten notes. But the department has been steadily losing students.

A degree in Gandhian studies, students feel, does not fetch them jobs even when over 80 of them cleared the National Eligibility Test. Nor has Bihar government honoured its commitment to give priority to the department while appointing schoolteachers.

Indifference and apathy have taken their toll. Seepage of water is routine. Termites have damaged the furniture and books. Paint is peeling off from walls. And though there is an undergraduate, and also a two-year post-graduate programme, the number of students range from three to 32 in 2019 as opposed to the availability of 75 seats.