The AMU and MU have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in July last to “develop cooperation and promote mutual understanding and excellence in practice-based education so that the research and knowledge developed is used for regional, national and global well being of humanity”.
Agreeing to extend cooperation between the two universities, the Vice Chancellors of both AMU and MU expressed willingness to work for transforming Aligarh into a Smart City with a smooth traffic system, safer roads, clean drinking water, green environment and other civic amenities easily accessible to the masses.
The agreement emphasized on conducting collaborative research work on water conservation and water management, including river water management, with special focus on cleaning of Ganga and Yamuna. It has been proposed to establish centres of cooperation through mutual agreement, providing for a Ganga Water Research Centre to be established by AMU and a Yamuna Water Research Centre by MU. Under the project, both the Universities will undertake some vital programmes in this direction including Continuous monitoring of water characteristics of river Yamuna in Mathura and adjacent area, evaluation of waste water drains joining Yamuna, evaluation of efficient and cost effective methods for waste water treatment of existing drains polluting the Yamuna and suggesting cost effective methods and technologies for Yamuna water purification.
The Centre will aim to position itself as an agency which will keep a regular check on the quality of water flowing towards and in Yamuna. It will develop and suggest remedial measures to keep the inflowing pollution levels at a minimum. The adjoining cities located on Yamuna banks shall benefit from these efforts by AMU and MU, by decreasing the level of pollution/ effluents getting into Yamuna. This is also in line with the Swachha Bharat Mission of the Govt. of India.
Under the MoU, the Aligarh Muslim University and Mangalayatan University will take necessary collaborative research and projects to develop the lock industry of the city with new smarter technologies in place and regular orientation of the workforce engaged in this industry.
AMU and MU have resolved to develop a Software Park. The engineering expertise of these universities shall devise and promote newer technologies geared towards employing green energy technologies in the local community, industry and villages. This shall entail use of renewable energy resources for energy production and may include wind power, solar energy, biomass power and incineration of waste. This will help the generation of electricity with much less pollution and if merged with the conventional power generation systems, will help increase the efficiency of the power distribution system. This will be done in two stages – Awareness Generation for Energy Efficient Technology and Setting up Carbon Credit Aggregation Centre.
A self-reliant building conservation system for preservation and restoration of the historical buildings of the city will be developed to promote tourism and make Aligarh a hub for tourists who visit Delhi, Mathura and Agra. The Aligarh Muslim University has developed the “Musa Dakri Museum” to show case Sir Syed’s Collection and other artefacts preserved in the University. The museum will also launch a website to attract tourists and visitors from all around the work. Efforts will be made by AMU and MU to find out shared space for further development of this world class Museum.
Similar studies are planned in other surrounding industrial hubs like Pottery industry in Khurja and Glassware industry of Firozabad. The Skill India campaign of the GoI is a great opportunity for the local population to acquire different vocational skills thereby providing increased prospects of employment or entrepreneurship in the unorganised sectors. AMU and MU shall run skill development programs accredited with respective Skill Development Councils for rural women in areas like tailoring, beauty treatments etc.
To develop new models for waste management, AMU and MU shall jointly develop and suggest better models for waste management whereby segregation of waste and recycling efficiencies are increased significantly and the budget for sanitation is not spent on just collection and transport of waste but recycling and waste-to-energy programmes can also be started in Aligarh helping the Smart City claims of the city.
Health related programmes will also be adopted including identification and promotion of cultivation of plants with medicinal value, as a cash crop, development of plant tissue culture techniques to increase the yield of bioactive molecules in medicinal plants and development of nano-dosage formulations like nano-spheres and nano-capsules of herbal and synthetic drugs.
AMU and MU will join hands to carry out programmes to integrate nanomaterial science with Unani medicine to develop nano-particle size drug molecules. Further, assistance programmes will be undertaken for the local lock and hardware industry for registration of trademark, domain names, filing of patents etc. Collaborative efforts for raising public awareness for programmes like Swachh Bharat Mission, Rashtriya Maadhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA) etc. A Legal Aid Clinic will be run in Aligarh and adjoining cities with the collaborative efforts of the AMU and MU.
The AMU Vice Chancellor said that to implement the measures under the MoU, it is imperative to make residents of Aligarh city understand these measures. “Student teams from the Social Sciences faculties of AMU and MU in general and Social-Work departments in particular will work together to carry out an awareness campaign on the measures to be taken.”
Meanwhile, the AMU Pro-Vice Chancellor, Brig. S Ahmad Ali informed that the Management Faculties of AMU and MU will together organize seminars, symposia, conferences and workshops for local entrepreneurs to empower them with latest knowledge of developments in trade and commerce and integrate with the global manufacturing and management practices. He added that with these seminars, the Management Departments of both the universities will prepare a project report on traffic problems in Aligarh and possible solutions to tackle the traffic problem. The Pro-Vice Chancellor also said that this MoU has come to stay and measures will be taken in various fields.
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