State that allots 20 acres of land first to be awarded University
GUWAHATI: Shillong could be the site for the second UN University on the globe provided the government of Meghalaya expedites the process to allot 20 acres of land before Assam government for the university.
The United Nations (UN) has chosen North East Region of India as the site for setting up its second global university that will facilitate study on conflicts resolution amongst other subjects. The UN University is being set up in NE India as per the tripartite agreement signed by the UN, Government of India and Federation of UN Associations in India. Students from all over the world will be eligible to study in this institution, according to Dr Aswini Sharma, secretary general of the UNESCO Association here.
The UN has decided to set up the university either in Guwahati in Assam or Shillong in Meghalaya subject to availability of land.
“We have requested both the governments in Assam and Meghalaya to allot land measuring about 20 acres for setting up of the university. The university will be set up wherever the land allotment is made earlier. Meghalaya government has shown keen interest in making allotment of land in Shillong at the earliest. The government of Assam was requested for land at Guwahati for the varsity by the UN first in February 2014 and again on August 3 this year,” the UNESCO official said.
The UN varsity, which will be second such global academic institution run by the UN, is expected to become functional from next year.
The first such UN University is functioning at Tokyo in Japan.
The UN varsity in the North East would facilitate study of various courses of arts stream, social sciences, management, science and technology. It will admit students in graduate, post-graduate level besides research scholars.
As the UN university will admit students from various countries in the world, it will play an instrumental role in promoting the ethic mosaic of vastly pristine and picturesque North East India as a global tourist destination.
