Y. Merina Chishi
Dimapur | February 21
In the debate over shifting the Nagaland University headquarters to Lumami, one department feeling the pinch rather hard is Mass Communication. Nagaland University started a diploma course in Mass Communication in the year 2005, after signing a MoU with the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. NU produced three batches until the MoU elapsed in 2008. On October 2008, following a recommendation on a report submitted by the UGC XI Plan Visiting Committee, a separate department offering post graduate course in Mass Communication is due to begin from the current academic session. However, the decision to shift the department to Lumami is being viewed with skepticism by several academicians as well as students.
The 2008 UGC XI Plan Visiting Committee report which stated the department of Journalism and Mass Communication be revived, also recommended that it be located at Kohima for ‘obvious academic and logistic considerations.’ The Committee also recommended the departments which are running different courses and have inter-disciplinary approach need to be blended and housed in the same campus. For both academic and administrative co-ordination, the Committee recommended the centres and departments coming under a School should be located in one campus. Accordingly, a building for the department of Mass Communication- to be shared with department of Geology- was built at an estimated cost of Rs. 5,337,815.39 at Kohima, where the School of Humanities is located.
Now following an Academic Council meeting held last year in Kohima, the decision to keep the department of Mass Communication in Kohima campus was stamped out by the Vice Chancellor, Professor K Kanan. Although the decision is not final, sources informed that during the meeting there was a tussle between members from Lumami and Kohima campuses. Lumami campus was in favour of keeping the department as per the original plan. It may be mentioned that a building for the department of Mass Communication already exists at Lumami, built in the X UGC plan allocation, during the former Vice Chancellor G.D Sharma’s tenure.
The decision is still under consideration but sources say the debate is tilted in favour of Lumami. The feasibility of having a new-age subject like Mass Communication at Lumami is now raising concerns. Some former students now working with local media houses, say it might not be suitable for the department to be located at Lumami for obvious reasons. Mass Communication as a subject offers a judicious mix of classroom teaching and practical training, they say. It include visiting radio and television studios, editing tables, meetings with visiting journalists, which might not be convenient in a place like Lumami, the former students feel.
They also add that as students’ then, they were deprived of proper practical training because of the lack of facilities even in Kohima. Now that the course has been upgraded to a post graduate degree, the syllabus will be more extensive which may demand lots of practical insights, they say. Some academicians also feel the department should be located in a place where there is easy access to modern technology; where students can be in constant touch with the latest that the subject offers.
However, on contacting the Vice Chancellor, he said the decision to keep or shift the department of Mass Communication is not final. Professor Kanan said there is no clear cut policy on the matter but it will be discussed in the upcoming Academic Council meeting on February 23. Nonetheless, Professor Kanan mentioned that the directive of the Visitor, the President of India, to shift the headquarters to Lumami will be carried out. He rebukes claims that Lumami is ill equipped with infrastructure and facilities. “Facility is not an issue here,” the VC said. He added Lumami should be given a chance to grow and the building for the department of Mass Communication is ready for use.
