Source: The Daily Pioneer
KOLKATA, INDIA, September 15, 2001: Giving a thumbs down to the Central Government’s move to introduce astrology in the curriculum of universities, Rabindra Bharati University (RBU) here has rejected a University Grant’s Commission proposal to set up an astrology department and returned a grant of US$31,900. The UGC controls much of the funding for universities in India. “Our university did not send any proposal to the UGC at all for setting up any department for teaching astrology, which the UGC has renamed as Jyotirvigyan,” said Vice-Chancellor Subhankar Chakraborty. Mr Chakraborty said the UGC “on its own” accorded approval for the establishment of such a department in the university a few months ago and sent a check for the project. The Commission in a communication also granted the appointment of a professor, two readers and lecturers each and establishment of a computerized horoscope bank, he said. “Our university can never accept this offer of sanction because astrology has not yet been established as a science through laboratory experiments, observations, analysis or research,” he said. Despite his denials, there is hardly a person in India who would not consult an astrologer, if not frequently, certainly upon ascertaining marriage compatibility for the children and auspicious times for weddings.