The State-owned Kitco has presented a Rs.24-crore expansion plan for the autonomous Ernakulam Maharaja’s College.
Principal N.L. Beena said the next governing council meet was expected to take up the proposal for final approval. The funds would be used to set up an academic block and a library complex, she said.
The government had already sanctioned Rs.10 crore for the expansion project. Of this, the college had spent Rs.10 lakh initially for autonomy-related work. About Rs.9 crore was transferred to the electronic ledger account maintained by the Finance Department. The college authorities pointed out that the move would help them utilise the money before September next fiscal.
Stating that the autonomy plans of the college were on track, Ms. Beena said the prospectus and regulations for the undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the new academic year were pending approval by the governing council. It had to be then submitted to the Mahatma Gandhi University.
The results of the postgraduate courses were also awaiting nod from the highest decision-making body of the college. P.K. Abdul Azis, the chairman of the college governing council, had resigned recently alleging lack of timely and proper briefing and prompt follow-up on autonomy related development of the college facilities.
Big projects
Ms. Beena said big projects could not be rolled out in haste and it required lots of planning and effort. For instance, Kitco had asked details of about 20 items including the schematic diagram of the existing buildings and soil and drainage conditions before finalising the detailed project report. “These works could not be done in a hurry,” she said.
The college authorities are also awaiting clearance from the Higher Education Department on a proposal that is expected to ensure the smooth conduct of the governing council meetings to be held in the coming months.
“We have urged the Department to evolve a mechanism that would help in fastening up development plans,” they said.
