Bihar is likely to start the first batch of its much awaited IIT from the current academic year 2008-09.The Union HRD ministry asking the state government to provide details of the infrastructure needed for its launch in a temporary building. In a letter to chief secretary RJM Pillai, the special secretary in the Union HRD ministry, KM Acharya, has asked the state government to "identify the temporary premises for the proposed IIT with a built-up area of around 38,000 square feet".

This is much awaited and well deserved start in the effort to put Bihar once again on the global education map. World’s oldest university at Nalanda is also likely to start its functioning by next year. Former President APJ Kalam has been personally monitoring the efforts for Nalanda University and he also visited Patna to discuss the work going in this regard.The proposed plan to start IIM at Patna is also on its way and the Ministry of HRD with Bihar Govt is trying to work out the modalities for the proposed Business school at Patna in collaboration with the IIM’s.

Ask any statistician he will tell you that Bihar’s literacy rate is perhaps one of the lowest in the country but what he will not tell you is that the how Bihari students have been topping in most of the competitive exams in the country. IIT-JEE or CAT , UPSC or Railways chances are that Bihari students will definitely figure in the merit list. To secure good ranks in the best academic institution is a dream for most of the Bihari students and their parents. What’s most inspiring is the fact that these students are mostly from semi urban and lower middle class families from remote districts of Bihar. These parents dedicate themselves and spend their life’s saving to realize their kids’ dream of getting the best higher education. I have seen how thousands of parents beat the scorching sun to secure forms of coaching institutes and competitive entrance exams. They take loans from friends, relatives and banks to take care of their kid’s education.

Try reserving a train to Delhi, Pune or Bangalore just after the board exams and you’ll see the mad rush to these cities for securing admissions. Perhaps there’s no better example than that of Patwa toil((weaver community) in Gaya ,Bihar where more than hundreds of students have secured place in IIT’s and REC’s. What’s even more inspiring is that the sons of this small community have been guiding the young ones in the community to start focusing on the basic from the start so that they do not face the same odds when it comes to crack these competitive exams. They come back to their villages and hold free training classes for engineering aspirants.

Another amazing success story is of the Super 30 batch which is run by Anand Kumar, a Maths wizard, along with a senior Bihar IPS officer Abhayanand. The duo helps meritorious students from economically weaker section of the society to compete for IIT-JEE and in the last 5 years they have helped more than 100 students to secure top ranks in JEE.Every year thousand of student appear to secure seat in the Super 30 batch which means they get free coaching and other support for realizing their dream.

All this has happened without any Government support or any organized funding, the best and meritorious students of Bihar have been chasing their dreams braving all odds and with the start of these prestigious institutions in Bihar it’s positively likely to make their dreams closer than ever before.

Photo by Chandan

It’s amazing how history revisits itself and how times change. The current efforts to revive the ancient age old University in Nalanda is just another indicator of the glorious past of Bihar. The revival of Nalanda symbolizes the great future which awaits Bihar and going by efforts of Nitish govt one assume that that day is not far when history will repeat itself and Nalanda will once again become world’s greatest seat of learning and education. Interesting things is that there are many versions of what the term Nalanda means. One is that Nalam means Lotus and Da means to give. Both combined together,Nalanda means Giver of Lotus and as Lotus is supposed to represent knowledge, Nalanda means Giver of Knowledge.

What’s even more pleasing is to see the new Brand Ambassador which Nalanda has got. President Abdul Kalam has been a great admirer of Nalanda and has personally shown great interest in the reviving the historic institution. Bihar govt is thinking of offering him the top post of “visitor” at the proposed Nalanda International University, coming up at the historical site.Nalanda is attracting global attention and Japan,South Korea,Singapore and China are now coming together to bring Nalanda to back on the global map.

“You can gauge the enthusiasm from the fact that the issue figured in the recent talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao and then with the Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. It also figured in the East Asian Summit held in January in Philippines this year and is likely to be raised again at the summit in November in Singapore,” says N.K. Singh, Deputy Chairman, State Planning Board.

Though countries from East and Southeast Asia—for whom Bodh Gaya and Nalanda were crucial pilgrimages—had always wanted to revive the university, it took concrete shape when it was pursued by outgoing President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He had outlined the contours of the proposed university during his special address to the Bihar Legislature last year. Of the 10 suggestions for a prosperous Bihar, revival of the university figured as crucial.

The kind of global interest which this ancient University is generating can be gauged from the fact that NYT reports on how revival of Nalanda could start a new Knowledge age for Asia.

Let’s just hope that this will be a new beginning for Nalanda and a new age of knowledge which will bring greater prosperity for mankind and spread the light of knowledge and symbolize the uniqueness of knowledge which transcends the barrier of language, region, culture and geography. Nalanda was the glorious past of Bihar and surely it's revial will mean a great future for Bihar as well.

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen will head a panel that will make recommendations to set up an international university in Nalanda. The first meeting will be held in Singapore in July.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told rediff.com on Saturday: "It is a big opportunity for us."Other members of the panel are Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's grand-nephew Sugata Bose, who teaches at the Harvard University in the United States, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo, a Chinese minister and Japanese minister.

When it wa decided to establish the university, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had promised to involve Sen.After the first meeting, three more meetings will held in China, Japan and Bihar.Modi said the state government has begun the process to acquire land for the university. In March, the government had passed a bill in the state Assembly to set up the university.

The proposed university will be fully residential like the ancient Nalanda seat of learning. In the first phase, it will have seven different schools with 46 foreign faculty members and over 400 Indian academics, states the final DPR, which was submitted to the government in February.

The university will offer courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism apart from various other subjects. An international scholar will be the chancellor.

Japan and Singapore have shown keen interest to invest in the proposed university at Nalanda, the idea for which was first mooted in the late 1990s.

The excavated remains at Nalanda are protected as a site of national importance. The university, a fifth century architectural marvel, was home to over 10,000 students and nearly 2,000 teachers.

Nalanda is the Sanskrit name for 'giver of knowledge'. The university, which existed till 1197 AD, attracted students and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey, besides being a pedestal of higher education in India.