Mahatma Gandhi Central University (MGCU) is a central university located in the state of Bihar, India. It was established by an Act of the Parliament of India and operates under the Ministry of Education, Government of India. The university was named in honour of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whose association with Bihar — particularly through the Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 — gives the institution its symbolic significance.
| Name | Mahatma Gandhi Central University |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | MGCU |
| Type | Central university (public) |
| Location | Motihari, East Champaran district, Bihar, India |
| Established by | Central Universities (Amendment) Act, 2014 |
| Affiliation | University Grants Commission (UGC) |
| Country | India |
The demand for a central university in Bihar gained traction in the years following the formation of several new central universities in different states under the Central Universities Act, 2009. Bihar, despite its long academic heritage represented by older institutions such as Patna University and Nalanda's historical legacy, did not initially have a centrally funded university of this category. The choice of Motihari, the headquarters of East Champaran district, links the institution to the site of Gandhi's first major civil disobedience campaign in India.
The university was created through the Central Universities (Amendment) Act, 2014, which extended the schedule of the principal Central Universities Act, 2009 to include a central university for Bihar. Academic operations commenced thereafter, with the institution functioning from a transit campus in Motihari while a permanent campus was developed.
The university offers postgraduate, doctoral, and select undergraduate programmes organised under multiple schools of study covering the humanities, social sciences, languages, sciences, management, education, and information and communication technology. Programmes are delivered through a semester-based credit system in keeping with UGC norms.
The university functions from Motihari, with a permanent campus planned in the East Champaran region. Motihari is connected by rail and road to Patna, the state capital, and lies in the historically significant Champaran area associated with the indigo cultivators' movement of the early twentieth century.
As Bihar's central university, MGCU is intended to expand access to higher education in a state with a large youth population, and to anchor research and academic activity in the northern Bihar region. Its location in Motihari ties contemporary higher education to the Gandhian heritage of Champaran.