Patna: Chief minister Samrat Choudhary on Monday said his govt wants to facilitate the opening of at least 50 private universities in Bihar to stop the outflow of students and public money from the state.Addressing an event here, Choudhary said nearly Rs18,000 crore of govt funds had already gone outside the state through the Bihar Student Credit Card scheme. He added that this figure did not include the money spent by well-to-do families who send their children to other states for higher education. Private individuals, he said, send crores of rupees out of Bihar every year for the education of their wards.Choudhary said the state govt recently cleared proposals to set up four new private universities. Another six to seven universities, he said, were being opened by govt using its own funds. “I have a vision that at least 50 private universities should be established in the state, only then Bihar will change in education sector,” Choudhary said, drawing applause from the audience.Under the Bihar Student Credit Card scheme, the state provides financial assistance of up to Rs4 lakh to a student who enrols in an approved institute of technical or higher education anywhere in the country.Choudhary said govt’s aim was to open as many private universities as possible so that quality education could be made available to Bihar’s students within the state.He also said his govt had set a target of providing govt jobs and employment to 1 crore people before 2030. Choudhary assured that over the next four to five years, efforts would be made to create conditions in which people from Bihar would not be forced to leave the state to work as labourers. “They can go outside Bihar for a good job,” he said.
