Gujarat: No vet, fisheries college with Kamdhenu varsity

In Gujarat, there are four veterinary colleges under four agricultural universities and two fisheries colleges and two dairy science colleges under different universities.

Kamdhenu University (KU) set up for the development of veterinary and animal sciences by the state government in 2009 by special Acts is still struggling to have a single veterinary and fisheries college of its own. While the KU authorities claimed that several requests made in this regard to the state government have fallen on deaf ears, mainly due to strong opposition from the existing four universities, it even lacks its own building and functioning from a couple of rooms on one of the floors of Karmayogi Bhavan in Gandhinagar’s sector 10 A.

The University that was incorporated ‘for furthering the advancement of learning, conducting of research and other technical information in veterinary and animal sciences, including dairy, fisheries and allied sciences’ at present, has only two dairy science colleges — one affiliated and constituent each — and eight polytechnics in animal husbandry colleges out of which one is constituent and seven are affiliated. The KU has been demanding veterinary and fisheries colleges that are under four different agricultural universities.

“The KU has requested to bring a modification in the KU Act 2009 to make existing veterinary and fisheries colleges to be under it as the Act mentions that the colleges in veterinary and allied sciences started before 2009 to remain with respective universities. However, this would technically raise questions as the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) guidelines clearly stipulates that there should be one college for each faculty (dairy, fisheries and veterinary in case of KU),” says the VC of KU Prof M C Varshneya.

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In Gujarat, there are four veterinary colleges under four agricultural universities and two fisheries colleges and two dairy science colleges under different universities. “It is simple that the agricultural universities do not want to part with their infrastructural facilities and faculty with the KU,” he reasoned.

The KU has also been supporting its case citing letters from governing bodies, including ICAR and VCI, to the state government authorities for ‘transferring existing five veterinary and two fisheries colleges under KU, Gandhinagar’.

“I am of the opinion that such an arrangement enables the veterinary universities to meet their internal deficiencies through shared resources, generate technologies to support the development programmes on the need based requirements….This may also be considered by the state government to bring in required changes for efficient implementation of veterinary education and research in the state by way of transferring all the four veterinary colleges under Kamdhenu University, Gandhinagar,” states the letter sent by Dr Umesh Chandra Sharma, president of VCI to the department of animal husbandry, fisheries on January 7, 2016.

Similarly, a letter from deputy DG of ICAR Dr Narendra Singh Rathore on September 21,2016 states, “I request you to kindly establish or get allocate already established college attached with the State University at least one veterinary, dairy and fisheries college near University headquarters needed for accreditation by ICAR with mandatory budget and required posts. As per ICAR norms of accreditation of veterinary university, there should be at lest one veterinary, dairy and fisheries college having five years of establishment.”

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