Pabna agricultural university dream advances: UGC told to study converting Atghoria college into a full university
The initiative to establish a full-fledged public agricultural university in Pabna has moved another step forward. The Ministry of Education has directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to examine the legal and administrative feasibility of converting Atghoria Agricultural College in the district into a full agricultural university and submit a report. The move has raised real hopes of fulfilling the district's long-standing demand.
The letter was sent on 30 September from the Government General University branch of the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the education ministry. It asks the UGC to verify the necessary legal and administrative feasibility of turning Atghoria Agricultural College into a full agricultural university and to submit a report with specific opinions.
According to the education ministry and related sources, the initiative follows directions from the Prime Minister's Office and the coordination cell for implementing MPs' pledges and expected programmes. In other words, the matter is no longer just a local demand; the feasibility process has begun on instructions from the top level of government.
Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, the MP for Pabna-5, had promised during the election to establish an agricultural university in Pabna. Since being elected, he has maintained regular contact and official correspondence with the Prime Minister's Office, the education ministry and other relevant offices on the issue. The ministry's feasibility initiative is a continuation of that effort.
Pabna is an agriculture-dominated district, with large-scale production of onion, rice, wheat, vegetables, pulses and dairy products. Local people believe a full agricultural university there would open new horizons for agricultural research in the northern region, the spread of modern technology and the training of skilled agriculturalists.
MP Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas said: 'The people of Pabna have long dreamed of a modern agricultural university. I gave my word to the people during the election. I have been working continuously with the Prime Minister and the education ministry to fulfil that promise. This directive from the ministry is the first big victory for the dream of Pabna's people. I will make every effort to implement it quickly.'
Agriculturist Jafar Sadek said efforts to set up an agricultural university in Pabna have been going on since 1980, but no progress was seen later. He considers the recent development good news for an agriculture-based district like Pabna.
He added that if the university is established, it will have a positive impact not only on education but on the overall agricultural economy, and that creating land and infrastructure opportunities in the region will be relatively easy.
He also stressed the need to move fast: in his view, the UGC feasibility report should be finalised quickly and the work of land acquisition and drafting the law accelerated — otherwise there is a risk the initiative stalls again through delay.
All eyes are now on the UGC report. A positive feasibility opinion would open the path to the next steps, including legislation, bringing Pabna's demand of more than four decades closer to realisation than ever before.
