THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Ranchi, Sept 14: The Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee has accused the state government of neglecting biotechnology education and research, despite the subject being taught in the state for over three decades.
At a meeting held on Saturday, Alok Kumar Dubey, General Secretary of the state Congress, demanded that biotechnology and allied sciences be included in the JEE 2025 examinations as per CSIR (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research) guidelines. He said that all life sciences subjects, including biotechnology, must be given due recognition in competitive exams.
Dubey pointed out that neighbouring states, Bihar and Odisha, are giving high priority to biotechnology. “In Bihar, posts were created for biotechnology even before the establishment of Munger University. In Odisha, separate universities are being set up for the subject. But in Jharkhand, although biotechnology has been taught at the undergraduate level since 1994 and at the postgraduate level since 2004, not a single post has been created till date. Instead of supporting our students, the government has chosen to exclude them from opportunities, which is a completely wrong decision,” he said.
He further alleged that the state government’s support has been limited to BIT Mesra, a deemed university, while government-run universities and colleges remain neglected. Calling this a grave injustice, Dubey warned that if sanctioned posts are not created and biotechnology is not included in competitive exams soon, student migration from Jharkhand will only increase.
“Posts must be created in Jharkhand too, and universities should be given financial assistance for research and teaching in biotechnology, just as in Bihar and Odisha,” Dubey said.
Supporting his statement, biotechnology researcher Vishal Kumar Singh added: “When states like Bihar and Odisha can prioritise biotechnology, create posts and establish universities, why not Jharkhand? Despite teaching the subject since 1994, keeping biotechnology students out of JEE and lectureship opportunities is an injustice to our future.”
