Words such as ‘Hindu’ and ‘Muslim’ in names of universities—the Banaras Hindu University and the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) — do not reflect their secular character and should be dropped, a University Grants Commission (UGC) panel has recommended.
The panel was formed to probe alleged irregularities in 10 central universities and the recommendations were made in the audit report of the AMU.
Centrally funded universities are secular instituions but such words related to religion in their names do not reflect that character, a panel member said on the conidition of anonymity.
The universities could be simply called Aligarh University and Banaras University or be renamed after their founders, the panel member added.
Besides the AMU and the BHU, other universities that were audited by the panel include the Pondicherry University, the Allahabad University, the Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in Uttarakhand, the Central University of Jharkhand, the Central University of Rajasthan, the Central University of Jammu, the Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya in Wardha, the University of Tripura and the Hari Singh Gour University in Madhya Pradesh.
