The Visva Bharati University, founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, is at the centre of a controversy over its plans for reviving its goshala (cow shelter) in the campus. The goshala has been unused for about 26 years.
The move come ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s likely visit to the Central University for the convocation.
The Prime Minister is also the Chancellor of the Central University.
Vice-Chancellor Swapan Kumar Dutta, however told The Hindu “It is not a goshala but a dairy farm.”
The University currently runs a B.Sc Agriculture course that includes animal husbandry and dairy farming.
Senior officials and a section of the faculty have, however, rejected the distinction. The Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA) in a statement refuted the V-C’s claim and alleged the University authorities planned to set up a “big cowshed to accommodate 200 cows.” They also dubbed the initiative an “appeasement policy of the present Vice-Chancellor (Officiating).”
“We used to have a cowshed in the campus which was unused for about last 26 years and was reopened about three months back. Now we are upgrading its infrastructure,” the Vice-Chancellor said.
At present the cowshed at the University has about 19 cows and “we plan to increase the capacity to 200 cows subject to availability of staff and government funds.”
Rejecting allegation of indulging in politics, the V-C said the “decision has nothing to with politics and has been taken solely for academic reasons.” He argued that “it is not a goshala but a dairy farm” and argued that “ goshala means a shelter home for old, unproductive cows.”
The V-C said the decision to expand goshala capacity ws taken following a 2015 visit and inspection of an National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) team when the functioning of the dairy farm was not up to the mark.
