Guwahati: The Assam government on Thursday (August 29) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Visva-Bharati for establishing Srimanta Sankardeva Chair in West Bengal’s Visva-Bharati University.
While Assam higher education secretary Madhu Sudan Nath signed the MoU on behalf of the state government, registrar of Visva-Bharati University Ashok Kumar Mahato signed it in presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
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As part of the MoU, a Chair in the name of Srimanta Sankardeva will be established with an objective to promote the study and research of the Vaishnavite saint and his Bhakti Movement beyond the borders of Assam and India.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Sarma thanked Visva-Bharati University for partnering with the Assam government in furthering the studies and research of Srimanta Sankardeva’s Bhakti Movement.
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Paying obeisance to Srimanta Sankardeva, CM Sarma said the Vaishnavite saint’s teachings have illuminated Assam through centuries and united Sanatan Dharma by relegating individual caste identities.
He said the MoU will help the academic fraternity to utilise the opportunity to study and undertake research of the teachings and philosophies of “Gurujona” (the teacher) and his contribution to Indian society.
CM Sarma said the Chair in Visva-Bharati University will be a boost to doctoral and post-doctoral research on the Bhakti Movement.
He also hailed the initiative of Visva-Bharati University for taking steps in supporting Assam’s endeavour of giving the world the ethos of Sankardeva’s teachings which are embedded with the spirit of cultural nationalism.
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“In the period of 15th and 16th centuries, Sankardeva was the only scholar who taught the people the essence of unity and rise above the narrow considerations of caste and creed. The society of Assam has subsequently taken the form which truly reflects the ethos of Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva’s philosophy,” CM Sarma said.
“The MoU will augur well in the collaborative approach of the Assam government and Visva-Bharati University to promote cultural nationalism propagated by Srimanta Sankardeva,” he added.
The Chief Minister informed that as a part of the MoU, the Assam government would provide a one-time grant of Rs five crore for establishment of the Chair.
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He said along with Visva-Bharati University, the Jawaharlal Nehru University and Punjab University – where the Chair has already been set up, the Srimanta Sankardeva Chair will also be set up at two other prominent universities across the country taking it to five.
For the Chairs established at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Punjab University, the Assam government had previously allocated Rs 10 crore and Rs five crore, respectively.