Haridev Joshi University of Journalism and Mass Communication


Haridev Joshi University of Journalism and Mass Communication (HJU is a state university located at Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. It was first established in 2012 through an Act of the Government of Rajasthan, closed in 2017 by the next government and reestablished in 2019 as a new university at the premises of historical Khasa Kothi.

History

Establishment

Established in 2012 as HJUJ, the university was one of several decisions taken by the Ashok Gehlot administration in the last months of his tenure. It was named after journalist and former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Haridev Joshi.

Closure in 2017

Following the 2013 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election and the rise of the Vasundhara Raje administration, a cabinet sub-committee has recommended the closure HJUJ as well as two other institutes, Rajiv Gandhi Tribal University and Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Law University. In July 2015 the new administration renamed and moved RGTU and stopped the admission process for the following year in HJUJ redirecting students to the journalism department in Rajasthan University. This was done to "ensure that a new batch of students was not affected" by future decisions. In November 2015 Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Law University became the first university to ever be closed in India and in January 2016 the cabinet has decided to merge HJUJ with Rajasthan University. In March 2017 a repeal bill for the closure of the university was introduced to the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, putting an end to the possibility of reopening of the bill and HJUJ became the second university to be closed in India. The courses which were taught under HJUJ have been running under Rajasthan University's centre of mass communication since then.

Re-establishment in 2019

Following the 2018 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election and the rise of the Third Ashok Gehlot ministry in late 2018, the cabinet has decided to open a journalism university afresh under the similar name. The Haridev Joshi University of Journalism and Mass Communication, Jaipur Bill, 2019 was introduced on 11 February 2019 and passed on 13 February. On 8 March 2019 newspaper editor Om Thanvi was appointed its first vice-chancellor. The new university has bigger set-up, larger faculty and new Logo. The university is set to open its gates again in the academic year 2019–2020.

Academics

The university will offer three postgraduate courses, granting a Master of Arts degree, and a one-year diploma course.