Having shifted to its under-construction campus two years ago, Nalanda University now plans to get its exquisite campus, which blends traditional flavour of the ancient seat of learning with modernity, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, vice chancellor Sunaina Singh said.

In eight years since it was set up, the varsity has played host to former Presidents APJ Abdul Kalam and Pranab Mukherjee, and incumbent President Ram Nath Kovind, besides a number of national and foreign dignitaries.

“We will approach the PM soon with a request since 90% of the work on administrative and academic side is complete. It is a Net Zero campus, with water bodies spread across 100 acres in the 455-acre campus. The work started in 2017. It will be good to have the PM here as it gels with his “look east policy,” said vice chancellor Singh, who joined the institution in May 2017 amid complete change of its governing board set-up.

The academic session of NU started on September 1, 2014, from its makeshift venue at the International Convention Centre at the Buddhist pilgrim town of Rajgir, barely 10 kms from the ancient Nalanda. On September 19, the then minister for external affairs late Sushma Swaraj had formally inaugurated it, reiterating Centre’s full ownership of NU.

While the exquisite infrastructure of the university is ready, the VC said its academic performance has also improved and would grow further. “Now we have six schools. For regular courses, the intake is over 250, while overall it remains between 700-1000 due to the certificate and diploma courses we run. We have just launched a global master’s programme in Hindu Studies (Sanātana) and the response has been good not only from India, but also from abroad. In 2014, NU started its academic programmes with two schools and just 12 students and we have covered a lot of distance to reach this far today, but it is just the beginning,” she said.

The two-year full-time residential M.A. programme in Hindu Studies, developed by the VC, captures the “rich spiritual as well as intellectual system of the Hindus — a distinctively interdisciplinary system”, says its synopsis.

“We are the first university to launch it. The admission is still going on. Students from the US, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh etc.have already got enrolled. It is a global programme,” the VC said, adding another Centre for conflict resolution and peace building under the School of International Studies was also in the pipeline to offer research prospects.

On attrition of faculty members from other countries, Singh said it was important to understand the locational challenges of NU. “Faculty members are appointed in contract for one to three years and depending on the requirement and their availability, it is extended. Some may like to leave after their term and we relieve them. We have faculty strength of 48 at present,” she said.

The Centre for conflict resolution and peace building, which has already got the approval of the governing board, was mooted by Kalam and later Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had also strongly batted for it.