AU?s Rs 300 crore proposal to UGC

Revamp, expansion planned

ALLAHABAD UNIVERSITY (AU) administration has drawn up an ambitious plan for an overall revamp and expansion of the 'Oxford of the East'.

The AU Vice-Chancellor Prof Rajen Harshe has already left for New Delhi on Tuesday night with the details of the plan seeking a sanction of a whopping Rs 300 crore grant from the University Grants Commission (UGC) that has the potential to transform the varsity and set it on a firm path of recovery.

Though being submitted against a proposal for Rs 150 that the UGC had asked AU authorities to submit, the varsity officials are confident that the funds will be sanctioned to help AU overcome most of its infrastructural problems in one go.

As per the proposal, AU plans to raise its boundary walls, have parking lots on all campuses, establish a Teachers Welfare Centre, open an extension wing of the AU Central Library in the Science, Commerce and Law faculties for the benefit of the students, construct three new hostels for boys and two new hostels for girls as well as complete the Indira Gandhi Complex that has been lying half-complete for the past many years.

AU Chief Public Information Officer Prof Amrendra Singh informed that as per the Rs 300 crore proposal, AU plans to also construct a toilet complex and a common room for girls in the Women's College campus, the need for which was being felt for the past many years but which could not be constructed due to financial crunch.

Another plan that has remained in the cold storage is construction of a new campus where the new departments like Journalism, Anthropology, Centre for Behavioural and Cognitive Science could be adjusted and starting of more new departments could be planned by the varsity. "We have asked sanction of funds for this vital work too," Prof Singh added.

He informed that there are also plans to open canteens at all the faculties that is being demanded by the students for the past many years. "We have even sought money for constructing an auditorium having a capacity of 1000 people, a lecture hall complex having eight lecture halls and capacity to adjust 200 students. These lecture halls would be allotted to departments as per need and usage would be on a shared basis," he said.

Other plans unveiled in the proposal include construction of a separate office for the Women Advisory and Welfare Board, installation of six new tubewells— two for boys hostels and one each for the girls hostel, teachers' colony as well as the science, commerce and law faculties. "Money has also been sought for making arrangements of using solar energy as power back-up, improving the swimming pools and other infrastructure for sports including improvement of the existing varsity stadium," Prof Singh said.

Special emphasis has been laid on improving the campus security arrangements in the proposal and funds have been sought for mobile phones for guards and a vehicle for quick response of the security staff.

In the coming years, AU could well have a 150-bed hospital of its own and offer treatment and medicines to its teachers, staff and students as this too has been catered for in the proposal.

"We also plan to properly utilise the AU plots lying waste. For this a separate office for handling admissions and examinations will be constructed at the FCI campus, a brand new integrated office complex for administrative officers will also be constructed besides setting up a separate office for the Dean (Research and Development)," Prof Singh added.