HYDERABAD: With the HK Sherwani Centre for Deccan Studies at Maulana Azad National Urdu University being the only centre in the country offering specific studies on the Deccan region, the centre’s director Salma Ahmed Farooqui stresses the need for more such centres in the country. Speaking with Express, she says that the centre doesn’t have enough funds and some more funds from the state government will be a boon for their research. Here are excerpts from the interview:
Is there a need for more specialised centres for Deccan Studies?
We are the only research centre in India that conducts studies on the Deccan Plateau which consists of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra. In the recent past, Deccan Studies has emerged as a separate field and there is a serious need for more and more centres taking up research on this subject.
Are students inclined towards taking up these studies?
There is a huge demand for this course as it involves lots of field trips and heritage walks. Unlike other courses, it is not textbook-based study but is experiential learning. Although there are many pending applications, we have to limit the strength to 48 students as it would be a problem to take a large group of students on field trips.
What is the outreach of your centre?
The outreach of our centre is pretty wide. We have many Memorandum of Understandings with international centres and most of the work will be published in English, Urdu and Turkish. Our work is seen in 59 countries. Within three years we will introduce three major papers on catastrophe profile of the Deccan, a lexicon of Deccani terms and trading network of Deccan.
Does the centre have enough funds to carry out all these research work?
No, we get a little support from the University Grants Commission but that is not sufficient for all the research work. As we are located in Telangana, we hope the state government provides us some financial support.