Nalanda Mentor Group holds meet in Patna

The Nalanda Mentor Group, headed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, held a meeting here on Wednesday to discuss the progress of setting up an international university at the ancient seat of learning, an official said.

The meeting was attended by Singapore's former foreign minister George Yeo, Lord Meghnad Desai, Sugata Bose of Harvard University and others to discuss the progress in the setting up of the university, said a state human resource development official.

The university's vice chancellor, Gopa Sabbarwal, was also present. This is the second meeting of the group. The first was held at Bodh Gaya in 2009.

The university plans to begin its first academic session by 2013 at its new campus in Nalanda and begin the admission process from 2012.

Sen, who arrived here Tuesday to release a report on primary education in Bihar, will also visit Rajgir in Nalanda district on Thursday.

"Sen and other members of the mentor group will visit the site of the upcoming university," the official said.

The idea of the university was first mooted in the late 1990s. In 2006, then president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's initiative gave shape to the project, which is to come up at the ancient site of Buddhist learning.

The excavated site of the ancient university at Nalanda is a place of national importance. A fifth century architectural marvel, the university was home to over 10,000 students and nearly 2,000 teachers.

Named after the Sanskrit term for 'giver of knowledge', the ancient varsity, which existed until 1197 AD, attracted students and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey, besides being a seat of higher education in India.

Though it was devoted to Buddhist studies, it also trained students in subjects such as fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, politics and the art of war.

Officials said the Bihar government had already acquired nearly 500 acres of land needed for the university and infrastructure work has already started at the site.

The proposed university will be fully residential, like ancient Nalanda. The university will have courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with other subjects. IANS

International funding sought for Nalanda University: Amartya Sen !!

International funding will be sought for the proposed revival of the ancient Nalanda University, a global centre for learning, and Singapore Buddhist organisations have already offered donations for the construction of a world-class library.
“We will go for international fund raising,” Amartya Sen, chairman of Nalanda Mentors Group and Nobel economics prize winner, told reporters here Tuesday.

“The Singapore Buddhist community is making an important gesture to finance library,” Sen added. They have reportedly offered around $5-10 million (Singapore dollars) to finance the institution.

Sen said they were open to funding from both public and private organisations as well as religious institutions.

Pegged as a symbol of global cooperation in education, the Nalanda University, proposed to be set up in Bihar near the site where an ancient university flourished centuries ago, will have schools on Buddhist studies, philosophy and comparative literature, historical studies and ecology and environmental studies.

The Nalanda Mentors Group, constituted in 2007 and chaired by Sen, has been giving a concrete structure to the plan to revive the educational institution, which had attracted students from across the world in ancient times.

The mentors group held extensive two-day meetings here that was also attended by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

George Yeo, visiting Singapore foreign minister and member of mentor group, said that he hoped “that by East Asia summit, the bill will be passed and work will begin”.

He was referring to the proposed legislation to be tabled during the current parliament session which will govern the operations of the university.

Amartya Sen also introduced the new vice-chancellor designate for the university, Gopa Sabharwal, a sociology professor in Lady Shri Ram college.

“This is an exciting task and a huge responsibility. The primary task is to translate vision of Nalanda Mentors Group,” said Sabharwal.

Asked if Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was associated with the project, Sen said: “No religious activist is involved in the process. This does not mean that they are out of the frame.”

Source: International funding sought for Nalanda University: Amartya Sen