Vet varsity gets govt nod

The bill was approved in April last year and a supplementary budget provision of Rs 2.25 crore was allocated to cover the initial costs of setting up the university. But, the government has still not been able to decide upon the location of the university. A top government officer is currently visiting different districts of the state to select a suitable site.

However, veterinary colleges, which are currently controlled by agricultural universities, are feeling neglected in the excitement over the setting up of this university. A professor from Bombay Veterinary College (BVC) said, ever since a government resolution passed last year, the college has not been receiving any funds except those for the payment of staff salaries. “College activities, including research programmes, are suffering. For, whatever funds we get from Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) barely suffice the needs of seven departments of the total fourteen. We have approached some charitable trusts, but the shortfall is still alarming.”

A student told this newspaper that the state of other colleges in the state is far worse. For example, at the veterinary college, Udgir, the total intake of the college is only twenty students. The infrastructure is so bad that students have to squat on the floor during classes.

The budget allocation for the five vet colleges in 1992-93 was only Rs 4.25 crores. It was increased to about Rs 9.80 crores in 1997-98, which is less than five per cent of the budget allocation for the four agricultural universities in the state, to which all the vet colleges are affiliated.

A BVC professor pointed out that respective universities cut 10 per cent from the allocations made for new programmes. “An independent university will ensure better financial and infrastructural facilities,” he said.