Govt-aided status: MP Adityanath’s college not as lucky as Godiyal’s

Jotirmay Thapliyal

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 17

Srinagar Congress MLA Ganesh Godiyal has managed to get government-aided status for his Raath Degree College set up in the Paithani area of Pauri Garhwal. However, another college in the same district set up by Gorakhpur BJP parliamentarian Mahant Yogi Adityanath in the Yamkeshwar block has failed to get the same status though it is in one of the backward regions of Garhwal.

Higher education eluded the backward Yamkeshwar block residents till Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath Mahavidyalaya came up at Bithyani. Earlier higher education was a big challenge as students in the Yamkeshwar block had to travel 70 km either to Rishikesh or Kotdwar. Yamkeshwar students found residing in rented accommodation and higher education in Rishikesh or Kotdwar quite expensive.

In 2005, due to the efforts of Adityanath, Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath Mahavidyalaya was set up at Bithyani in the Yamkeshwar block of Pauri Garhwal. With little funds at disposal, Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath Mahavidyalaya could not go for expansion. The Shiksha Samiti had repeatedly appealed to chief ministers for help, but to no avail. The samiti members had met former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on November 19, 2013, and even met incumbent Chief Minister Harish Rawat in April 2015 but the government-aided status was not granted to the college.

The mahavidyalaya has 10 big rooms, a library and office rooms. The college is affiliated to HNB Garhwal University and has NET qualified faculty. Yamkeshwar resident Mahendra Singh says the mahavidyalaya has been a boon for the backward Yamkeshwar region. The college has helped students of the region get easy access to higher education. “Besides Yamkeshwar, students come to the college from Duggadda, Dwarikhal and even the Neelkant area,” Mahendra adds.

Interestingly, the Harish Rawat government after winning the vote of confidence in the state Assembly in its first major decision, granted the government-aided status to Raath Degree College, but no such favour was extended to Yamkeswar’s Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath Mahavidyalaya.