Asansol: West Bengal higher education minister Partha Chatterjee on Saturday said four new universities will come up in the state in the future.

Mr Chatterjee, who was present at the convocation of Kazi Nazrul University, said the new varsities will be set up in Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, East Midnapore and Jhargram.

The minister said during the seven years of Trinamul Congress rule, 22 new higher educational institutions have come up in West Bengal.

The state will set up two-three colleges and one university in each district, as part of the objective to bring higher education to more people, Mr Chatterjee said.

At the convocation earlier on Saturday, the Kazi Nazrul University conferred a D Litt (honoris causa) on Bangladesh prime minister sheikh hasina. “It is a matter of pride to confer the honour on Hasinaji from a state university named after Kazi Nazrul Islam on his birth anniversary,” Mr Chatterjee said.

“Our government has worked to make Churulia, the birth place of Kazi Nazrul, a place befitting his stature as a poet of the Bengalis, and restored it,” he said.

The minister added that more students from Bangladesh will be enrolled in the higher educational institutions for future studies.