New buildings, a community radio frequency, and a string of student-focused announcements — Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami turned the Doon University orientation session for 2026-27 into one of the most infrastructure-dense university events the state has seen in years. Speaking at the Dikshaarambh (orientation) and youth dialogue programme in Dehradun on Thursday, 13 August 2026, the Chief Minister's Office of Uttarakhand announced a cascade of investments and policy commitments aimed squarely at the state's student population.

Two landmark buildings, one new radio voice

The centrepiece of the day was the inauguration of two major campus structures. A Biological Sciences laboratory building, constructed at a cost of Rs 11.20 crore, and a Central Library building, built for Rs 17.39 crore, were formally opened — together representing a combined infrastructure outlay of nearly Rs 28.60 crore. Alongside, CM Dhami launched the Doon University Community Radio Station at 88.4 FM, giving the campus its own broadcast frequency. Two dedicated posts — a programme coordinator and a technical assistant — will be created to run the station.

The Central Library will not just carry a new address. Dhami announced it will be named after Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, placing Doon University in a long tradition of public institutions honouring the architect of India's Constitution through institutional nomenclature.

Five foreign languages, two electric buses

The announcements extended well beyond brick and mortar. The Chief Minister committed to strengthening Doon University's foreign language departments — specifically Spanish, German, French, Chinese, and Japanese — with new faculty positions to be created for each. The stated aim: equip students across Uttarakhand with skill-based language education that opens doors to global employment. Two electric buses will also be provided for student commuting, a small but visible nod to green campus mobility.

Research grants, exam support, and the anti-cheating shield

Dhami used the platform to restate the state government's broader higher-education agenda. Under the Chief Minister Research Promotion Scheme, faculty can access research grants of up to Rs 18 lakh. Students clearing the written stage of competitive exams — UPSC, NDA, and CDS — are eligible for up to Rs 50,000 in financial support for interview preparation. The CM pointed to the state's stringent anti-cheating law as the foundation of a transparent recruitment ecosystem, crediting it with enabling more than 34,000 government appointments over the past five years.

Situating all of this within the National Education Policy 2020 framework, Dhami highlighted the state's push to integrate AI, machine learning, and big data into university curricula, alongside ongoing projects such as a Science City and an Astro Park. 'The greatest strength of any nation is its youth,' he said, invoking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship programmes — Make in India, Digital India, Startup India, and Skill India — as the national scaffolding for state-level ambition.

Doon University was established in 2005 in Dehradun and has grown steadily as a state university offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Today's investments signal that the Dhami government sees it as a proving ground for Uttarakhand's wider higher-education transformation — and the students walking in for orientation in 2026-27 may be the first to feel the full weight of that bet.