Mizoram assembly passes Bill on shifting state varsity headquarters to Lunglei

Aizawl, Feb 25 (PTI) The Mizoram assembly on Wednesday passed a Bill related to the shifting of the headquarters of the proposed state university from Aizawl to Lunglei in the southern part of the northeastern state.

The Mizoram State University (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposed to change the location of the varsity headquarters.

The amendment was made to the Act legislated in March 2025, which originally designated Aizawl as the university's headquarters.

State Higher and Technical Education Minister Vanlalthlana, who introduced the Bill, said the government decided to change the location of the university headquarters to address regional imbalances.

The university will be established in a "cluster mode", utilising various existing colleges.

The government had already started work on creating staff posts and forming search committees for a vice-chancellor and a registrar, he said.

There were plans to use the Geology and Mining Department office in Aizawl's Luangmual area as the varsity headquarters, he said.

Vanlalthlana noted that residents of Lunglei, Champhai, and Mamit districts had submitted representations to the government, requesting that the state university headquarters be established in their respective areas.

After consultations with NGOs and local lawmakers, the Council of Ministers had unanimously decided on November 17 last year to move the site to Lunglei.

"It should be noted that the headquarters had not been fully established in Aizawl; only the site had been surveyed. So this is not a relocation from Aizawl, but rather a change in the designated site," he said.

While opposition members supported the Bill, they questioned the timing of the change.

Some alleged that the government backtracked from its original plan due to "pressure" from NGOs and ruling party legislators in southern districts.

BJP member K. Hrahmo claimed that the government reversed its decision after ruling ZPM legislators from Lunglei threatened to resign if the university headquarters was not shifted to the southern part of the state.

Chief Minister Lalduhoma said that the headquarters site has changed, but the university's cluster model remains the same.

He added that several departments and schools of the proposed state university will be established in Aizawl colleges as previously planned. PTI CORR BDC