Prayagraj, Nov 12 (IANS): Allahabad University (AU) will establish a museum to showcase its noted alumni in order to encourage students to pursue studies at this fourth oldest university of the country.

AU vice-chancellor Prof Sangita Srivastava said: "We are making all out efforts to provide the best facilities, both in terms of academics and sports to our students, but they should also have a feeling of 'self-pride' while studying at AU. This could be possible only when they are well-informed about the glorious past of the university and the great names it has produced."

Busts of AU alumni, including late President Shankar Dayal Sharma to late Prime Ministers Chandra Shekhar and V.P. Singh and the former five-time Prime Minister of Nepal Surya Bahadur Thapa besides noted poets and writers like Firaq Gorakhpuri and Harivansh Rai Bachchan as well as scientists like noted astrophysicist Meghnad Saha, would be a part of the proposed museum.

"I am pained to see that many of the young students of the city are not aware of the glorious past of AU. The museum will give them information about this," she added.

It would be established in one of the halls of a building near the historical Vizayanagram Hall of the science faculty campus of the university.

The museum will have busts or murals of its alumni and other information related to them and their achievements.

The varsity is yet to decide on how to collect funds for the project.

"We will have to arrange funds for establishing the museum which aims to motivate students of the city to pursue higher education and research at AU and not move to other cities. The funds could come through corporate social responsibility (CSR)," said Srivastava.

There are educational institutions across the world which have similar museums and even have tickets for visiting the museum.