Patna University's historic Wheeler Senate House renamed after Jayaprakash Narayan
Patna (PTI): The historic Wheeler Senate House of the Patna University has been renamed 'Jayaprakash Narayan Anushad Bhawan' after socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan.
The 97-year-old senate house shed its British-era name days before Patna University (PU) completed 106 years. Located between the banks of the Ganga and the old Ashok Rajpath, the university was established on October 1, 1917.
A ceremony to mark the 106th anniversary of the university was held at the capacious senate hall on Sunday, during which gold medals were presented to various department toppers.
The charming senate house with Doric columns framing its entrance was inaugurated on March 20, 1926 by the then governor of Bihar and Orissa province and Patna University chancellor Sir Henry Wheeler.
It was built using a generous endowment from Raja Devakinandan Prashad Singh of Monghyr (now Munger in Bihar). Sir Henry Wheeler had laid its foundation stone in 1925, according to archival records.
This iconic landmark in Patna has been a venue for many historic events since its opening.
The old senate house has hosted innumerable convocation ceremonies of PU, senate meetings, opening session of the Indian Science Congress in 1933 and several annual general meetings of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society (later Bihar Research Society) in the 1920s and 1930s, among other key events.
Traditionally, PU Foundation Day ceremonies have been hosted at this venue.
Days before the 106th anniversary of the university, a new plaque was installed on the right side of the senate house's facade stating that it has been renamed after Jayaprakash Narayan, popularly known as 'JP', a Patna University official said.
As guests streamed in on Sunday and walked through the hallowed portals of the refurbished senate house, not many noticed the new plaque.
The plaque, with the university emblem at the top, reads: "Patna University - on September 13, 2023, after approval by Bihar Governor-cum-Chancellor Shri Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Wheeler Senate House has been renamed 'Jayaprakash Narayan Anushad Bhawan'...".
The senate house building has been refurbished. A sum of Rs 2.84 crore was sanctioned for this earlier, officials said.
Bihar Governor Rajendra Arlekar and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had on September 5 unveiled a plaque embedded on the left side of the facade of the senate house to commemorate the reopening of the renovated hall.
In his address on the occasion, Arlekar had suggested renaming the Wheeler Senate House, saying it was a colonial-era name.
Speaking about Rabindranath Tagore's visit to the Wheeler Senate House in March 1936, the governor had suggested that the hall could be named after the Nobel laureate.
"There is a need to think over it. (Patna) University people should definitely consider this. I am ready for this," he had said.
Days later, "emergency meetings" of the university's Academic Council and the Syndicate were convened and a "proposal to rename" the Wheeler Senate House was cleared. The proposal was then sent to the governor, who is also the university's chancellor, for approval, sources said.
The renaming of the iconic landmark, however, was not welcomed by all.
Patna University alumnus Shanker Dutt said it is "disappointing" that the identity of a historic place like Wheeler Senate House has been "altered".
"What renaming does, more so of a public building like Wheeler Senate House, is that it takes away the point of reference in history when seen retrospectively. The building has hosted a plethora of historic events during its journey and proceedings, documents and photographs associated with it will describe the venue as Wheeler Senate House," he said.
"So, would we now say that Tagore visited the 'JP Senate House' in 1936," asked Dutt, who also taught for several decades at the university.
Many other scholars, including a former vice-chancellor of Patna University who did not wish to be named, said the renaming was "not needed" and would "create confusion" among people.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
