Midday meal scheme for poor PG students

Mangalore University Vice Chancellor P S Yadapadithaya has said that the midday meal scheme will be for poor students pursuing post-graduation courses at the university.

He was addressing the academic council meeting at the new Senate Hall on Wednesday. He said that Rs 1 lakh will be contributed as seed money and Rs 5 lakh will be needed to launch the scheme. If all the teachers contribute, it can be introduced immediately, he added.

Prof Yadapadithaya said the university will frame rules on who will be the beneficiaries of the scheme. He said the university is mulling over converting the canteen into a food court to offer subsidised food for the students and the faculty.

He said that he will propose to invite food chain giants to bid for the rights to run the food court. The bidders for the food court will only have to pay for power and water facilities, he said.

Planting of saplings

The vice chancellor has said that the university will launch a drive of planting saplings and enrolling students as volunteers to nurture these plants.

The first-year students will be asked to plant saplings in the designated area identified by the authorities. Each plant will have a bar code sticker and the student’s name. The student will have to nurture it for two years, during their stay on the campus. After the completion of the course, the students will receive a certificate. A survey will also be conducted to study the extent of greenery on the campus, he added.

Of the university’s total land spread over 352.1 acres, seven acres have encroached. Prof Yadapadithaya said another survey will be conducted using a drone camera to assess the encroachment.

Row over textbook

On the row over the choice of a textbook by the Kannada editorial board of the university for the optional Kannada paper for final year students of BA, Prof Yadapadithaya said that a review committee had been constituted.

He said the committee will submit its report within a week. The committee has been asked to look into whether the inclusion of the chapter pollutes the minds of students, he added.

Admission review

The VC, observing that some PG courses have received a lukewarm response, said a review of enrollment of students for all the post graduate courses offered by the university for the past five years, will be conducted.

Based on the report, the university will chalk out programmes for new courses from the next academic year, he said.