The State government will ask Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to direct the Veterinary Council of India (VCI) to grant recognition to veterinary colleges of Hassan and Shimoga, Minister for Animal Husbandry and Law and Parliamentary Affairs T.B. Jayachandra informed the Legislative Assembly on Monday.
In a reply to calling attention notice of Leader of the Opposition H.D. Kumaraswamy, Mr. Jayachandra said he would go to New Delhi on Tuesday and take up the issue with Mr. Pawar. To ensure admission of students this academic year, all efforts would be made to get the VCI recognition to the two colleges, he said. In February last, a three-member inspection team of the VCI led by S.C. Misra inspected facilities such as college building, veterinary hospital, laboratory and hostel facilities provided at the colleges at Hassan and Shimoga.
The Minister said more than Rs. 150 crore had been spent to provide facilities and construct buildings. All expenditure would go waste if the VCI refused to grant permission for admission of students, he said.
The government set up these colleges in 2007 to address the issue of shortage of veterinary surgeons in the State. The VCI has withheld recognition for both the colleges for the last five years for lack of adequate infrastructure, and the degree certificates issued by the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Science University (KVAFSU), Bidar, are invalid. The VCI had insisted that the colleges should have buildings, faculty members, hospital and livestock.
