Students from the backward district of Gadchiroli will soon have a 'model college' sanctioned by University Grants Commission (UGC) close to them. The college is set to become a reality from the forthcoming academic session, with a slew of innovative courses.
TOI had first reported the apex body for higher education sanctioning a model college for the Naxal-infested district along with Hingoli and Jalna in Maharashtra on April 21.
Apart from regular courses like BA, BCom and BSc, the model college would also offer job-oriented and in-demand courses in forestry and environment, industrial chemistry and biochemistry among others. Moreover, popular courses from commerce faculty like BBA, BCA and BCCA would also be available.
"We're framing innovative courses which will be related to the area. Gadchiroli is a densely forested district and therefore the focus would be on programmes to secure jobs for the students in their area itself," vice chancellor Vilas Sapkal said.
The university administration would be starting the college from its sub-centre presently. "But we have identified land and would submit a proposal in this regard soon. The sub-centre has 10-acre area currently while the Model College requires 20 acres," Sapkal added.
The VC said that manpower requirements including teaching and non-teaching staff would be identified as per the new courses. "The college would be developed in a phase-wise manner, which includes college building and hostels," registrar Mahesh Yenkie said.
According to NU officials working at Gadchiroli sub-centre, so far students from this place were facing problems for higher education courses as they had to go all the way to Nagpur and other cities. With such innovative courses, students from other cities will now travel to Gadchiroli to pursue these courses. The VC praised NU staff for the efficiency they displayed in getting this project for the university.
UGC plans to establish 374 such colleges in educationally backward districts (EBD) across India with a motive to increase their gross enrolment ratio. It had sanctioned about Rs 2.5 crore for setting up a college in Gadchiroli, which is the highest grant in the university's 87-year-old history.
The college would be set up with a total grant of Rs 8 crore, of which about Rs 5.50 crore would come from the Maharashtra government. As per UGC survey, Maharashtra has seven EBDs - three in Konkan and two each in Vidarbha and Marathwada. After six decades of independence, Gadchiroli had got the first engineering college last year from Chandrapur-based. However, it is still waiting for the long-promised Gondwana University.
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