A Rs 446.99-crore budget for 2012-13, with fresh provisions to increase the bandwidth capacity for the on-campus use of internet and enhanced focus on research programmes and fellowships, was tabled before the senate of the University of Pune (UoP) on Saturday.
The overall provision is up by Rs 62.16 crore from the Rs 384.83-crore budget (revised estimates) that was announced for 2011-12. The projected deficit, at Rs 103.21 crore, has also gone up by Rs 10.42 crore from the Rs 92.79 crore last year.
Moving the budget proposal, senior management council and senate member Pandit Vidyasagar said, "The budget has extended an appropriate priority to academic and research programmes, while also taking into account the requirements of all other stakeholders, i.e. students, teachers and nonteaching staff."
"The focus is also on allocations for special grants to the postgraduate departments, students facilitation centre, quality improvement programme, financial aid to affiliated colleges, students scholarships, and skill development and assistance to the economically weaker section students," he said.
The Pune University Network, formerly known as the triple connectivity programme, has been allocated Rs 9.7 crore towards development and another Rs 2.25 crore towards maintenance, while Rs 6 crore have been earmarked for the quality improvement programme and another Rs 5 crore for the virtual classroom project.
The UoP's 411-acre campus already has an elaborate fibre optic network and wireless network facility. But considering the increasing use of internet and the growing number of students, the UoP is keen on strengthening the bandwidth capacity, he said.
ARs 8-crore provision has been made for the proposed new building for the students' facilitation centre, which was recently started from a makeshift bungalow adjacent to the main entrance. This centre has been positioned as the one-stop avenue for students reaching the university for exam-related documents, degrees and other works.
The budget provides Rs 3 crore for M.Phil/Ph.D scholarships and Rs 1 crore for research fellowships, besides Rs 7.36 crore for the students' welfare board, which drives most of the university's student-centric initiatives. The board's allocation is up by Rs 6 lakh from last year's Rs 7.30 crore. Another Rs 1.72 crore have been provided for the students hostels.
On the revenue side, the UoP received a bulk of its earning from the exam department, at Rs 101.89 crore out of the total 446.99 crore budget. This constitutes 22.8% of the total earnings. Meanwhile, officiating vice-chancellor Sanjay Chahande informed the senate members that an urgent meeting of the Board of Examination will be convened soon to deliberate steps required to strengthen the functioning of the exam department.
The department came in for severe flak from the senate for its "inefficiency and inaction" over some of the recent scams and irregularities.
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