Construction of the headquarters and launch of various degree and PG courses received maximum impetus in the Sree Narayana Guru Open University (SNGOU) Budget presented here on Sunday. Syndicate member and Finance Standing Committee convener Biju K. Mathew presented the Budget that envisages an expenditure of ₹90.58 crore against an income of ₹83.49 crore with a deficit of ₹7.09 crore. An amount of ₹35 crore has been set aside for procuring land for the headquarters while ₹10 crore goes as the first installment for construction.
Expert committee
The Budget has set aside ₹1.5 crore has been earmarked for conducting various courses, UGC accreditation for distance education and other academic activities. Formation of an expert committee for preparing the list of certificate courses and the course announced for local body representatives have been allotted ₹10 lakh. While ₹1.6 crore will be used for the purchase of furniture, computer and other equipment required for regional centers, building rent and other related expenses, ₹20 lakh has been set aside for computerising the academic block.
For setting up a virtual studio to conduct online classes and produce audio and video contents, ₹1 crore has been allocated . The computer centre of the university will be expanded with more systems and allied equipment and ₹40 lakh will be used for the purpose.
Purchase of books
Since photocopying, photo duplicating, printing and document reproduction are essential for the day-to-day operations of the university, the reprographic center will be expanded spending ₹50 lakh. An amount of ₹1 crore has been allocated for the purchase of books and other accessories required for the university library. With the approval of the government, 75 teaching and non-teaching posts will be created for the better functioning of the university and the commencement of new courses. While the allocation for the purpose is ₹2 crore, ₹10 lakh will be used for conducting a seminar series on various topics.
