Why India's First International University Fell Short of its Aspirations; Check Details Here

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Initially proposed in 2005, by the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the India's First International University faced some challenges and fell short of its dream.

Why India's First International University Fell Short of its Aspirations

New Delhi: Earlier, in 2005, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh proposed an ambitious idea for India's "first international university" at the SAARC Summit in Dhaka. This proposal materialized in 2010 through an intergovernmental agreement signed during the 14th SAARC summit, involving member countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

The concept aimed at member countries collectively contributing resources to establish a Center of Excellence in the form of a University. This institution would offer state-of-the-art facilities and expert faculty to students and researchers from across the SAARC region, mentions the university website.

However, after almost 13 years, with INR 100 crore of the member nations' contribution share still outstanding, the university is grappling with significantly reduced financial reserves. As of July 31 this year, its corpus was done to INR 1.23 crore, a significant decline from INR 69 crore in 2010.

With more than 700 students, 56 faculty members spread across seven departments, and an additional 42 non-teaching staff, the university reportedly incurs an annual operational cost exceeding INR 70 crore.

Facing financial challenges, the university has reached out to the Central government, having sent appeals, including one in February this year. According to the sources, as of the current financial year, none of the SAARC nations, with the exception of India, has contributed funds from their committed share for the university's operational needs.

Geopolitics at Play

Under the agreement, India was to bear with covering the entire expenses for constructing the permanent campus of the South Asian University (SAU) in New Delhi. In terms of recurring costs, the member countries, including India, were to share the responsibility.

Further, India was allocated 57.49% of the operational cost, while Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal were to contribute 12.9%, 8.20%, 4.9% each, respectively. Afghanistan, Bhutan, and Maldives were expected to bear 3.83% each of the operational expenses.