[ Prof. Uttam Kr Pegu & Dr. Ravi Ranjan Kumar ]
Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU), one of the premier institutions of higher education in Arunachal Pradesh, completes 40 years of its existence on 4 February, 2024. The university, formerly known as Arunachal University, is nestled atop Rono Hills on a picturesque land measuring 302 acres.
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had laid the foundation stone of the university on 4 February, 1984. The university has achieved academic excellence in every sphere, at par with any other central university in the country.
The university was upgraded to a central university on 9 April, 2007, by the erstwhile union human resource development ministry. Since then, RGU has carved a niche for itself in the educational scenario of the region and the country, as well.
Prof. C.L Anand was appointed as the first vice chancellor of the university in 1987, with A.P Srivastava as the first registrar of the university. Currently, prof. Saket Kushwaha is serving as the Vice Chancellor of RGU, and Dr. N.T Rikam is the registrar.
The university had the privilege of having retired IAS officer Dr. J Suresh Babu as its chancellor in 2023.
The first step and beyond
The university embarked on its academic journey in 1988 with 48 students, 18 faculty members, and three departments. Since then, over the years, there has been an exponential growth in the number of students. Currently, while 2,340 students are enrolled in postgraduate programmes, there are 525 undergraduate students, followed by 167 students pursuing diploma and certificate courses.
A total of 127 PhD scholars were enrolled during 2023-2024, taking the tally to 657 PhD scholars currently pursuing doctoral degrees at the university.
Forty-five colleges are affiliated to RGU, besides one government medical college (TRIHMS). As on date, the university has more than 220 full-time faculty members, 202 regular non-teaching staffers, 84 contractual employees, and 210 contingency staffers.
It has 43 departments, three institutes – the AITS, the IDE, the IUGS – and eight centres under 12 faculties/schools of study: basic sciences, commerce & management, education, engineering technology, environmental sciences, communication studies/visual and performing arts, language, life science, social science, law, physical education, sports science, and agriculture sciences.
The university has inked 32 national and five international MoUs.
Under the leadership of the present VC, prof. Saket Kushwaha, the university has assiduously maintained its scholastic distinction, as a result of which, in 2023, the university expanded its academic horizons by launching several new departments, including food technology, agronomy, agricultural economics, agricultural engineering (entomology), genetics & plant breeding, horticulture, plant pathology, soil science and agricultural, and chemistry.
RGU is creditably matching the new trends in the field of higher education to enable aspiring students to stay abreast of their fellow students across the nation.
Commitment to academic excellence
The commitment of RGU to academic excellence is further evidenced by its library – a trove of knowledge with a collection of 74,500 physical books. This is augmented by a significant digital presence, with 12,700 e-books, and a digitised record of 462 PhD theses through the Shodhganga project.
In 2023, the university demonstrated its resolve to maintain its academic integrity by subscribing to the Dilbrit Extreme anti-plagiarism software and establishing its institutional repository. This digital repository, already containing 7,066 e-books, greatly enhances the university’s educational resources, supporting both research endeavours.
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav
In 2023, RGU participated in the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, marking 75 years of India’s independence. The celebrations were twined with the state government’s golden jubilee year, allowing RGU to honour its past while marching towards a future of continued excellence and innovation.
Under the leadership of prof. Kushwaha, the total number of doctoral degree awardees crossed 120 in 2023, nearly doubling up since the previous year, and approximately 400 percent higher than the tally five years prior. The university takes pride in having a remarkably higher number of students from socio-educationally backward classes especially, female students, graduating each year, some of whom have been medallists. Significantly, in the past few years, the research outcomes and overall infrastructure have grown exponentially.
Milestones
Moreover, the faculties have set milestones for RGU in every sphere of academic endeavour. Innovative and socially significant research projects and related associations, like ‘Unsung Heroes: The Tribal Resistance Movement in Arunachal Pradesh’ to ‘Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence’ (PURSE) and ‘Biotech-Krishi Innovation Science Application Network’ (Biotech-KISAN) are among the long list of the university’s achievements.
A dedicated hostel for economically weaker section students is ready to be made operational from the 2023-’24 academic session. Seven projects, being undertaken by the CPWD under the HEFA, are nearing completion. They include construction of four hostels and staff quarters. Further, the long-awaited administrative building is also coming up very soon. It is also worth mentioning that nearly 80 percent of the buildings in the campus are friendly to divyangjans.
The university continues to stand tall on its standards of accountability and transparency with suo moto disclosure of information under the transparency audit. Like in the past few years, this year too, RGU secured over 95 percent marks in its third-party transparency audit report by an independent reviewer. RGU has got most of its ordinances and policy documents organised in the last five years.
It is a matter of pride for the RGU fraternity that the state government has provided 500 acres of land free of cost in three different locations in the state for campus expansion of RGU.
Moreover, the university is all set to contribute to the NEP-2020 vision of Campus Aapke Dwar. Besides this, a water plant, a student activity centre, a rostrum, auditorium furniture, and high-mast buses have been provided by the state government by way of Rs. 50-crore support money.
Creation of new positions
Over 70 new positions have been created, and RGU has successfully completed recruitment of qualified faculty members. Over 500 conferences, webinars and capacity-building activities (in both online and offline modes) for key stakeholders have been organised by the university, benefitting thousands of students and scholars over the last five years.
RGU has established the Centre for Buddhist Studies with a corpus fund of Rs. 5 crore, supported by the state government, and has secured the 16th rank (overall) among the central universities across the nation in the Indian Institutional Ranking Framework (IIRF).
The International Centre of Excellence in Millets Research was established in the campus this year, and RGU continues its commitment to be a plastic-free and fully green campus since 2018.
Along with the rest of the country, the university has also adopted the new National Education Policy (NEP)-2020, with the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) ID for nearly all (99 percent) of the students. RGU has also launched four-year BA and BEd courses.
After being selected by the union education ministry, four-year undergraduate programmes (FYUP) in sciences and social sciences (BA and BSc, respectively) with multiple entry and exit system have been implemented in the university.
In order to facilitate quality implementation of the FYUP under NEP-2020, the Institute of Undergraduate Studies has been established in the campus. All 18 key mandates for higher educational institutions under NEP-2020 have been implemented at RGU, with students’ portability across institutions within Arunachal being a rare feat across the country. All the 45 colleges affiliated to the university have been enabled the course curriculum and have been mandated with the FYUP from the 2023-’24 academic year under the vision and guidelines of NEP-2020.
Summary
The achievements of RGU have been supported enormously by both the central administration and the state government, with the latter making substantial contributions to the university’s infrastructural development.
Governor K.T Parnaik, who is the chief rector, takes active interest in the RGU community, focusing on student welfare and the university’s strategic growth. Under prof. Kushwaha’s leadership, RGU has not only upheld but enhanced its academic reputation, achieving an impressive 83 percent score and securing its position as the second-best central university in India in 2020.
RGU continues to deliver high-quality education, and adapts to the new trends in higher education, ensuring that its students are well-equipped to meet both national and international standards.
(Prof. Uttam Kr Pegu is Dean, Faculty of Communication Studies and Dr. Ravi Ranjan Kumar is Head, Social Science Department, RGU.)
