Saturday, Jan 24, 2009
Rs. 5 crore works to be taken up in the next six months: VC

• Equipment worth Rs. 3.86 crore will be bought this year Rs. 1.95-crore communication centre planned

Madurai: Madurai Kamaraj University campus is to undergo a huge makeover in the next six months to blend “tradition with modernity.”

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Vice-Chancellor R. Karpaga Kumaravel said that the infrastructure development exercise would be taken up on an outlay of Rs. 5 crore. The exercise would include renovation of buildings, replacement of fittings, augmentation of water supply, provision of furniture and computers and creation of gardens.
A sum of Rs. 2 crore would be spent from the University with Potential for Excellence (UPE) fund provided by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Rs. 3 crore from its own funds to provide a facelift to the over 35-year-old infrastructure.

The Vice-Chancellor said that the UGC had released Rs. 5 crore under UPE fund, in addition to the Rs. 10 crore provided earlier.

The university planned to purchase equipment worth Rs. 3.86 crore this ye-. A central instrumentation centre for housing equipment related to nanotechnology and biosciences would come up at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore.

A communication centre, at a cost of Rs. 1.95 crore, had been planned to augment networking and information access, Dr. Karpaga Kumaravel said.

Campus, teacher, student and eco friendly initiatives would be taken up at a cost of Rs. 2 crore.
The university, he said, would enter an era of e-governance at a cost of Rs. 1 crore, in order to ensure greater transparency, inclusiveness and reach.

A year after obtaining UPE status, the university had made significant progress in nanotechnology and bioscience research, apart from holistic development, the Vice-Chancellor said.

The UGC had approved 47 projects under 10 research themes, he added. During the period, 30 extension activities were taken up and sophisticated equipment worth Rs. 3 crore procured.

They included a time lapse microscope and inverted fluorescent microscope.
The 76th Indian Science Congress Madurai Kamaraj University endowment award for natural sciences and physical sciences would be given away at a function to be held on March 27, Dr. Karpaga Kumaravel said.

An international symposium on ‘Instructional designs for the disadvantaged learners’ would be organised by the Centre for Educational Research on March 18 and 19. A UGC committee would visit the university between January 23 and 25 to assess its progress made in various fields and review plans for the ensuing year, he said.