New structural designs of the proposed high-rise administrative and academic blocks of Patna University were unveiled during an event to mark its 106th foundation day here on Saturday. Plans are also afoot to renovate the capacious 96-year-old Wheeler Senate House where the anniversary event was hosted, officials said. The Bihar government has approved all three projects, they said.
“The two new blocks were proposed a year ago. But certain changes were made in the designs,” varsity Vice-Chancellor Girish Kumar Choudhary said. “As per the plan, a G+8-storey administrative block will come up on campus. This has been finalised. According to the earlier plan, the auditorium was to come up on the top floor, but it has been moved to the ground floor,” he said. The academic block will be a G+9-storey building with a cafeteria on the ground floor. The upper floors will house two departments each on an average. It will also house a library, Kumar said. He also shared slides of the new designs. The project is estimated to cost Rs 139 crore.
The previous designs had shown the two proposed structures in a heavily glass-fronted look. Their new avatars feature some traditional architectural elements in the form of columns at the lower levels. A senior official had earlier said height restrictions were considered before finalising the designs, leading to the changes.
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The official said a notice inviting tenders for the projects had been done and, after completing technical formalities, the foundation stone would be laid in December-January. The administration block will house general, establishment, registration and other departments, offices of the pro-vice chancellor and other offices. It will also house the Syndicate, Academic Council and a conference hall, the vice-chancellor said, adding that the project was expected to be completed in two years. The old administrative block, once vacated, will be used for vocational courses, while Vanijya Mahavidyalaya will move to the historic Darbhanga House once postgraduate departments are shifted to the new academic block, he added.
“We are making efforts to regain the university’s lost glory,” Choudhary said. For the renovation of Wheeler Senate House, Rs 2.84 crore has been sanctioned, he said. The Senate House is named after the then governor of the province and varsity chancellor Sir Henry Wheeler, who had inaugurated it in 1926.
The infrastructure upgrade will dramatically transform the look of the campus. The two blocks will come up at a site near the vice-chancellor’s bungalow. The New Hostel or Nutan Chhatravas, set up in 1947 near the over 110-year-old Minto Hostel, was demolished to make way for the new blocks, officials said. Bihar Education Minister Chandra Shekhar was the chief guest on the occasion. Education department secretary Asangba Chuba Ao was also present.
Ao said the renovation project of Wheeler Senate House would be undertaken in such a way that it would “maintain its heritage” nature while equipping it with modern facilities. Patna University was established on October 1, 1917, and is located between the banks of the Ganga and the old Ashok Rajpath. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had graced its centenary function in 2017.
The university campus is home to a large number of historic buildings, including the Dutch-era main administrative building of Patna College set up in 1863, and beautiful British-era structures constructed later such as the old administrative block, the Wheeler Senate House, Patna Science College buildings and various old hostels. JG Jennings was the varsity’s first vice-chancellor. The university’s governing bodies — the Senate and the Syndicate — were established in 1919.
Noted barrister Sir Sultan Ahmed was the first Indian vice-chancellor of the university, serving from 1923-30. The famous Patna University Library was set up in 1919 and a centenary bash was held to mark its 100 years in 2019.
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