Appeal to set up varsity on Ambedkar's name

Kolkata: State Backward Class Welfare department will present a proposal to the Education department and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for setting up a university in the name of BR Ambedkar.

"We have been felicitating meritorious students every year with awards named after B.R. Ambedkar. I personally believe that there should be a university in the state named after the Father of the Indian Constitution," said Rajib Banerjee, BCW minister at a programme organized on the occasion of World Tribal Day.

The minister handed over awards to successful SC/ST students, who have excelled in their board examinations and have made it to engineering and medical colleges. He said his department is committed to ensure that no student in the state is deprived of pursuing higher education due to financial constraints.

"Our department is ready to provide support by all possible means to ensure that no student from the SC/ STor tribal community is compelled to stop education due to financial problem. I would request all of you to approach our department in case of any such problem," Banerjee said. The minister said Mamata Banerjee government's emphasis on the development of the SC/ ST and tribals in the state is evident from Rs 966 crore budget that has been allocated for the department in the current financial year. The erstwhile Left Front government's budget was only Rs 180 crore.

"Today is International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, celebrated in #Bangla as #AdivasiDibas. Our government has created the Tribal Development Department to bring about comprehensive development of various tribal communities in #Bangla," tweeted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.