Rs 50 crore special grant for OUAT

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), for the first time, received a special grant of Rs 50 crore from the Ministry of Agriculture that coincided with the university’s completion of 50 years. The OUAT management had presented a proposal to the Planning Commission requesting a special grant, other than the ones that they receive every year. The Planning Commission as well as the Ministry of Agriculture approved the proposal, thereby allocating Rs 50 crore for the University. This year only five universities have been allocated this special grant and OUAT was one of them.  ‘’Our primary focus is to repair and renovate the infrastructure of our colleges in Bhubaneswar and others across the state,’’ informed OUAT vice- chancellor DP Ray. OUAT Bhubaneswar has colleges like College of Agriculture, Veterinary and Animal Husbandry, Basic Science and Humanities and Home Science. Most of the buildings of the colleges are in need of infrastructure upgradation. ‘’We will be focusing on hostels, staff quarters, halls and auditoriums. Most of the buildings are present since the inception of OUAT 50 years back. We will be prioritising our plans around them first,’’ informed Ray.    OUAT has around four colleges outside Bhubaneswar and that includes a College of Horticulture and College of Agriculture in Chiplima, College of Fisheries in Berhampur and a College of Agriculture in Bhawanipatna. Most of these colleges are in need for repair and renovation of the buildings. The management has not yet made distinctions as to how the fund will be used. “We need to first do a survey of the centres that need immediate attention, accordingly the funds will be distributed across the OUAT centres in the state,” said Ray.  The university also has 10 research centres in 10 agro-climatic zones in the state. These centres will also benefit form the special grant received this year. “We made a this proposal keeping in mind the completion of 50 years of the college and the commission agreed,” said Ray. They receive a separate grant from India Council of Agricultural Research for the equipments used in their colleges. This year they have received approximately Rs 10 crore for the purpose.