NITA AMBANI AS VISITING FACULTY? RELIANCE, BHU REFUTE REPORTS AS STUDENTS PROTEST

Reliance Industries Limited on Wednesday said that the news on a proposal to make Reliance Industries Executive Director Nita Ambani a visiting professor at Banaras Hindu University is false.

Reliance Industries Limited spokesperson told ANI that the news is fake adding that “no proposal or invitation to make her visiting lecturer of BHU has been received” nor has it been extended to Nita Ambani from the university.

Meanwhile, a press note issued by the BHU on Wednesday said that there was no proposal to make Nita Ambani a visiting faculty at any department of the university and no such proposal had been placed before any concerned official within the university too

Several media houses had reported that students staged a demonstration at Banaras Hindu University on Tuesday opposing a proposal to make Nita Ambani a visiting professor. Around 40 students of the prestigious BHU staged a demonstration outside the house of Vice Chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar on Tuesday.

Local media reports say a proposal to make Neeta Ambani a visiting professor was put forth internally last Friday at the BHU’s Centre for Women’s Studies and Development.

Earlier, university sources had said that the idea was to have Neeta Ambani and other influential women leaders interact with students, especially women, at the university. In an interview to news agency PTI, Nidhi Sharma, coordinator of the committee that mooted the proposal, said the proposal to make Nita Ambani a visiting professor has been sent to the authorities at the university. “Nita Ambani is a woman entrepreneur. If she joins our centre, the women of Purvanchal will get the benefit of her experience,” she was quoted as saying by PTI.

However, several students have opposed the idea. Shubham Tiwari, one of the students involved in Tuesday’s protest, told PTI that instead of Neeta Ambani, those who have set an example of women empowerment should be invited.