THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, Dec. 25: Prospects for initiating academic session 2023 -24 look distant in three-degree colleges in the Garhwa district. These three degree colleges are one each in Bhavnathpur block, Ranka block and one in Garhwa block for girls only.
Degree Colleges
The Degree College Bhavnathpur has 93 per cent of the work completed, Degree College Ranka has 74 per cent, and Mahila College Garhwa has 78 per cent of the job completed.
Thus, these three degree colleges in the Garhwa district are still far from getting ready to start handing over their degrees to the university. The academic sessions will begin when these three colleges come under the possession of Nilamber Pitamber University.
Acting NPU VC

The acting VC of Nilamber Pitamber University, Dr Tapan Kumar Shandilya, said, “We are quite concerned about the slow work at these three colleges in the Garhwa district.”
Shandilya added, “We have operated one model degree college in Garhwa since 2022. Here, we are working on need-based teachers to run the departments.”
The acting VC talked about colleges in the Latehar district where efforts are on to replenish the Manika Degree College with need-based teachers, as Manika Degree College has just seven teachers. At the same time, there is no teacher here in the Hindi, economics, mathematics, physics, and chemistry departments.
The acting VC said, “We have a model college at Gua in the Latehar district. It was handed over to the university in June 2023. The HRD has yet to approve /sanction teaching and non-teaching posts along with the approval of the subjects to be taught here.”
Shandilya said the students are reluctant to take admission here because of its 7 kms away from the NH 75. There is the issue of the boundary wall here in this Gua college.
Mahila college at Dharampur
There is a Mahila college at Dharampur in Latehar. It was also handed over to the university in June 2023. Here, 27 posts of teaching and non-teaching are sanctioned. The HRD has approved the subjects to be taught here in Mahila College.
He reiterated the university is determined to start the academic session from 2024 – 25 in Mahila College Dharampur.
Model Colleges in Palamu
No happy scenario is for such a college in the Palamu district. The model college at Kurka under the Chainpur police station limits in Palamu has been languishing for more than two years as the forest department is not allowing the building of a boundary wall across this college, citing the land on which the boundary wall is to come as the forest.
The acting VC NPU said 98 per cent of the works of the Model College, Kurka, are complete, but the forest department is objecting to the construction of the boundary wall. The college is not yet handed over to the university.
There is another twist here. The Jharkhand State Building Construction Corporation Ltd has taken its full estimated cost of this Kurka degree college, leaving the boundary wall unstarted. It’s the NPU that is on the back foot here regarding the Kurka degree college.
According to sources, the entire payment for this college to this corporation was made under the tremendous pressure of the HRD.
Again, the degree college Hussainabad is nearing completion and the wait is for its handing over to the university, added Shandilya.
As for the degree college Chhaterpur in Palamu, the university is all out for need-based teachers here.
The acting VC said that Chhaterpur College has begun taking admissions since 2023 and has an in-charge principal, too.
Need -based teachers
“We have decided to have a fleet of need-based teachers to augment teachings in the colleges which are starved of the teachers and where there are issues like boundary wall, no objection certificate from the forest or students reluctance to take admission in degree college Gua, etc will be duly sorted out with the cooperation of the state HRD,” added Shandilya.
“HRD Secretary Rahul Kumar Purwar is very serious about the engagement of the need-based teachers in the colleges for a smooth conduct of classes and maximum coverages of the syllabi,” Shandilya pointed out.