UGC panel: Call AMU Aligarh University, BHU Banaras University

An audit of central universities conducted by one of five committees set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on April 25 — at the behest of the HRD Ministry to probe complaints of irregularities — has suggested that the words ‘Muslim’ and ‘Hindu’ should be dropped from the names of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU), respectively, The Indian Express reported.

With universities such as AMU being centrally-funded, the audit report states that this change would better reflect the secular character of such institutions. While the audit did not cover BHU, it nevertheless referred to the institution’s name in its report, according to IE.

Other institutions that were subjected to an “academic, research, financial and infrastructure audit” by the committees include: Pondicherry University, Allahabad University,Uttarakhand’s Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Central University of Jharkhand, Central University of Rajasthan, Central University of Jammu, Wardha’s Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, University of Tripura and Madhya Pradesh’s Hari Singh Gour University.