A CORRESPONDENT
NAGAON: The Jugijan Govt. Model Degree College Demand Committee has appealed to the Assam government to include the proposed Jugijan Govt. Model Degree College in the state budget for 2025-26. The appeal was made during a press conference held on February 2 at Radhanagar-Saotalbasti-Kandulimari Sarbajanin Durgabari.
Addressing the media, Dilip Chakraborty (President), Bijan Roy (Secretary), Bijaylal Chakraborty (Member), and Nirmal Sarkar (Member) highlighted that the residents of Jugijan have been seeking a government degree college for a long time without success.
The Jugijan block, covering 514.25 square kilometres with a population of 3.5 lakh, predominantly comprises SC, OBC, and EBC communities. Many residents are from geographically backward areas, making access to education challenging. The nearest higher educational institutions are Hojai College (now Rabindranath Tagore University) and Hojai Girls’ College, located 8-13 km away.
Due to limited seat capacity in these institutions, many students, particularly girls, are compelled to discontinue their education. Despite numerous blocks in the state receiving government model degree colleges, Jugijan remains excluded. During the August 2024 Assembly Session, local MLA Ramkrishna Ghosh led a delegation from the demand committee to meet Education Minister Dr. Ranoj Pegu. The committee proposed using the abandoned ITI campus in Jugijan, which has ready-to-use infrastructure, as the site for the college. The Education Minister assured the delegation that if the infrastructure was ready, the college could commence operations from the 2025-26 session.
Memorandums were also submitted to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Education Minister Ranoj Pegu, and Hojai District Guardian Minister Pijush Hazarika, who expressed a positive approach to the matter. Additionally, the Vice-Chancellor of Rabindranath Tagore University, Prof. M. Dutta Choudhury, forwarded the memorandum to the Education Minister, emphasizing the necessity of the college.
The committee stressed that the proposed college’s location at the abandoned ITI campus, just 4 km from Hojai town, makes it a strategic midpoint to serve students from both Hojai and backward areas of Jugijan.
The Demand Committee urged the state government to allocate funds for the establishment of the Jugijan Govt Model Degree College in the upcoming state budget to ensure higher education opportunities for the students of Jugijan and greater Hojai.
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