Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ virtually inaugurated the ultramodern New University Campus & Newly Constructed Buildings of the Central University of Punjab, Bathinda (CUPB) situated at Village Ghudda, Dist. Bathinda, in the illustrious presence of Smt. Harsdimrat Kaur Badal, Member of Parliament, Bathinda Lok Sabha Parliamentary Constituency today.
A total of 10 Buildings and University Insignia Monument (dedicated to ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan and Jai Anusandhan’) at CUPB New Campus, built at the cost of Rs 203.78 Crore was inaugurated by Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal. These construction works comes under ‘Phase-1A’ of the development plan of CUPB New Campus, the foundation stone of which was laid on 7th September 2015 by the then Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani and the then Chief Minister of Punjab, Sardar Parkash Singh Badal. The names of buildings to be inaugurated are Aryabhatta Academic Block, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Guest House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh PG Boys’ Hostel, Mata Gujari PG Girls Hostel, Annapurna Bhojnalya Bhawan, Rai Bahadur Sir Ganga Ram Water Treatment & Supply Centre, Sir M. Visvesvaraya Sewerage Treatment Plant, Radhakrishnan Residential Complex, APJ Abdul Kamal Residential Complex, Swami Dayanand Saraswati Residential Complex.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Education Minister said that the present situation in the world teaches us that a “Self-reliant India” (Atma Nirbhar Bharat) is the only path to move ahead and ‘National Education Policy’ (NEP-2020) will guide us to achieve our mission of making India a ‘Global Knowledge and Innovation Centre’ of the world. Shri Pokhriyal appreciated that the Central University of Punjab is doing remarkable work in the field of education & research. He praised CUPB for implementing the best administrative and teaching practices; the University Grants Commission is considering implementing them in other universities. It is a matter of pride for Punjab that the teachers at CUPB got trained from the best universities in countries like America, Canada, Germany, England, Israel, Japan and Australia. Not only this, but the University also has students from 28 states of the country, faculty from 19 states and staff from 12 states, he further added.
Shri Nishank congratulated Punjab and all citizens of India on the inauguration of CUPB New Campus. The Minister also praised the CUPB family for creating an environmentally friendly and green campus by planting more than 40,000 trees (mostly indigenous) inside the campus. He expressed his firm belief that in this state of art new campus, CUPB faculty and students will set high water-marks in infrastructural growth, in academic and co-academic excellence.
Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal, congratulated CUPB employees, students and people of Punjab on the inauguration of New Campus of Central University of Punjab at Village Ghudda, Dist. Bathinda. She stated that Bathinda City will now be known as the education hub of Punjab as students from across the country and overseas will come here for quality education.
Prof. (Dr.) Raghavendra P. Tiwari, the Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Punjab, extended a warm welcome to Chief Guest Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal & Guest of Honour Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal and also presented special features of the University. The Vice-Chancellor stated that the lush green new campus of CUPB spreads in 500 acres is first of its kind campus in the country that has been uniquely designed to be environment-friendly & energy-efficient as per GRIHA-V norms. The Master Plan of CUPB Main Campus has been certified with five-star ratings of ‘GRIHA’ for larger developments, which is the highest award of Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India.
In his welcome address, CUPB Vice-Chancellor Prof. Tiwari mentioned that this day will be historic for Punjab, Punjabi, and Punjabiyat, where youngsters of India would be benefited with quality education in an ultra-modern New Campus of the Central University of Punjab, situated at the holy land of Punjab. He informed that in a short span of 11 years from its inception in 2009, CUPB has already set new benchmarks in the field of education and research while working from makeshift campus. He added that the University is accredited ‘A Grade’ from NAAC. CUPB is the youngest University that has secured its position in top 100 University (87th Rank), & 1st among the new Central Universities (established since 2009) in NIRF India 2020 Rankings. He also stated that the University also became the Champions of 15th National Youth Parliament Championship. He shared that currently, the University is providing 42 Post-Graduate and 35 Ph.D. Programme through its 31 departments. He asserted that this New Campus will provide a platform to CUPB to realise the vision of ‘National Education Policy’ (NEP-2020), by providing ample opportunities of higher education to youngsters of India to empower them to contribute towards nation’s development and Self-reliant India.
The programme commenced with recitation of University Anthem and concluded with the singing of National Anthem. The live-streaming of the CUPB New Campus Inaugural Ceremony was attended online by university faculty, staff, students, and their parents from across the country.