BHU students learn to make cow dung cake, video goes viral
The purpose of the workshop and training of the students was to impart knowledge of how cow dung cakes are created. The Upala will be utilized by the varsity for havans, pujas and also as fuel to prepare food.
Banaras Hindu University students emerged in a viral video making cow dung cakes as part of a workshop. The students can be seen in the video being taught on how to make cow dung cakes or Upala, by the dean of the social science faculty, Professor Kaushal Kishore Mishra.
In the viral video, Professor Mishra is seen teaching students how to make Upala. The BHU tweeted from its official handle that the workshop was held at the Integrated Village Development Centre of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
The purpose of the workshop and training of the students was to impart knowledge of how cow dung cakes are created. The Upala will be utilised by the varsity for havans, pujas and also as fuel to prepare food. The Dean, Professor Mishra, also urged the central government to make arrangements for selling products made from cow dung cakes as “it will help in increasing the income of farmers”.
BHU students will also be sent to villages later to train the people residing there on making ‘upala’. This workshop, however, has been widely criticized by various people on social media since the video went viral. “Universities should be places for higher learning and the students attend them to acquire specialised knowledge, not to make cow dung cakes,” stated a netizen.
The workshop has also received flak as many believed that this training could have been given by people residing in villages, especially women as it is an ancient process that is still used as a fuel source. Rather than having highly paid professors imparting knowledge, women from villages could’ve been invited instead, which would’ve increased their exposure as well.
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