The Central government has sanctioned Rs.13.5 crore to Mahatma Gandhi University to implement its ambitious programmes that include a student amenity and incubation centre, Wi-Fi enabled e-campus and a solar-powered campus.
The university will receive the assistance as part of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a Centrally-sponsored scheme to reform the higher education sector.
“It’s a major boost for the varsity’s efforts to step up facilities in tune with the changing trends in higher education and its increasing demands,” Vice Chancellor Babu Sebastian told The Hindu over the telephone from Kolkata on Wednesday, where he was felicitated among various other Vice Chancellors of national importance at the 12th anniversary celebrations of the Confederation of Indian Universities.
The student incubator initiative is expected to provide space to budding entrepreneurs to start a business or commercialise their innovations.
The programme would focus on both product (technology) and business development.
An e-library and video conferencing facility to interact with renowned entrepreneurs worldwide would also come up at the centre.
Online access
Prof. Sebastian said that the Wi-Fi enabled e-campus would enable online access to academic content by all statutory departments, inter-university and inter-school centres and affiliated colleges.
The university would procure a 10 TB server and other computer hardware and software. A digital content management system would be set up to store all forms of digital content, including text, video and audio for knowledge generation. The university would also introduce an online training programme by developing “blended delivery classroom” opportunities through use of the open source Moodle learning management system.
Access to all
The institution would make its campus disabled-friendly by constructing ramps and toilets in all its multi-storeyed buildings. The proposed roof top solar power plant with a capacity of 235 kW would be set up on the terrace of the administrative block and Pareeksha Bhavan on the university’s main campus.
