Ranchi, November 6, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The controversy over the proposed renaming of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee University (DSPMU) in Ranchi intensified on Friday, with tribal students and several organisations staging protests for the second consecutive day.
The Jharkhand Cabinet had approved a proposal on May 8, 2025, to rename the university as Shaheed Veer Budhu Bhagat University. However, the decision is yet to be implemented.
Agitated over the delay, tribal student groups and social organisations blocked roads near the campus by burning tyres and erecting barricades made of bamboo poles, disrupting traffic in the area.
The dispute began on Thursday when members of the Chhatra Adhikar Morcha, Adivasi Chhatra Sangh and Sarna Samiti, led by former minister Bandhu Tirkey, reached the university campus and painted the proposed new name on its main gate. They also raised slogans demanding immediate implementation of the Cabinet decision.
However, unidentified persons erased the newly painted name later that night. Following this, tribal student organisations launched fresh protests on Friday, with students and activists gathering outside the campus and blocking traffic.
Protesters said Veer Budhu Bhagat, who led the Kol Rebellion of 1831-32, was a revered freedom fighter and a symbol of tribal pride and resistance. They said the removal of his name from the university gate amounted to an insult to the martyr.
The organisations have demanded action against those responsible for erasing the name and sought the installation of a statue of Veer Budhu Bhagat on the university campus.
Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Working President and former minister Bandhu Tirkey attributed the delay in implementing the Cabinet decision to administrative inaction. He said the issue was linked to honouring the state’s martyrs and urged the government to act without further delay.
The institution, formerly known as Ranchi College, was upgraded to university status in 2017 by the then Raghubar Das-led government and named after Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee. Despite the Hemant Soren Cabinet’s approval of the proposed renaming in May 2025, the university continues to function under its existing name.
The university administration has not yet issued an official statement on the controversy.
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