Magadh varsity gears up for NAAC accreditation

GAYA: Magadh University (MU) has started preparations for the fresh National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation.
Vice-chancellor of the university Qamar Ahsan, while addressing the Senate meeting on Saturday, said an improvement in the NAAC ranking was a must to get the right place for the university on the country’s academic map.
The university was awarded an embarrassing C-grade by the council during the 2015 assessment.“Efforts are on to earn a better ranking and exercises like seminars, workshops and research projects are being encouraged this academic session,” the VC said.
Ahsan also emphasised on the need to upgrade the central as well as departmental libraries and laboratories. He sought the cooperation of the faculty members in improving the varsity's academic profile. “The university also wants to engage in academic exchange and cooperation programmes with institutions regarded as centres of excellence,” Ahsan said.
Expressing concern over the damage caused by degree scams, the VC said the police from different states, including Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were investigating fake degree and other cases.
The VC added the process for digitisation of university records had been set in motion to reduce the chances of fraud. “A public sector undertaking has been engaged in the process. Online admission and registration will begin from July 2018-19,” he said.
The MU Senate also approved Rs 997.22 crore budget for the fiscal year 2018-19, which includes deficit amount of Rs 197.87 crore.
As against an estimated income of Rs 197.87 crore, the expenditure for the next fiscal year is estimated at Rs 997.22 crore. The budget presented by pro-VC K N Paswan has a provision for Rs 199.17 crore for pension payment of more than 4,300 retired employees, including bonafide dependent of deceased employees.
Major part of the budgetary allocation goes to establishment cost. A provision of Rs 384.15 crore has been made towards salary payment of nearly 3,700 teaching and non-teaching employees working in university headquarters, PG departments, 44 constituent and four government-funded minority institutions spread over seven districts including Patna and Nalanda.
Internal revenue of the university, including receipt from tuition fee, admission fee and registration charges among others have been estimated at Rs 53.62 crore. The university expects a development grant of Rs 144.25 crore from the state government. The total deficit of Rs 799.35 crore is to be met by the state government.