Our Correspondent
KOHIMA, JANUARY 22
The government of Nagaland and the Central Agriculture University (CAU) Imphal have signed a MoU for establishment of a College of Veterinary Science at Jalukie under Peren district on Friday.
The document was signed in the Chief Secretary’s conference hall at the state Secretariat, Kohima by Nagaland Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar on behalf of the state government and CAU Imphal Registrar Dr. P Madhusoodanan Pillai on behalf of the university, in the presence of a host of government officials.
The College of Veterinary Science Nagaland, once established, will introduce various courses on veterinary science and other related disciplines in the country with the approval of the Board of Management, CAU Imphal.
Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar said the signing of the MoU was a big milestone as the state government had been working towards setting up of a Veterinary College in Nagaland for a while now. He expressed hope that the process will begin soon for the CAU affiliated Veterinary College at Jalukie to become functional at the earliest. The most critical part is to set up the basic infrastructure, required facilities and faculty, he pointed out.
Commissioner & secretary for Veterinary & Animal Husbandry, MK Mero informed that 266 acres/107.6 hectares of land belonging to the Veterinary department has been given on lease for the establishment of college at Jalukie for a period of 99 years.
According to the MoU, the area of departmental land (on lease) is subject to expansion in case post graduate courses are started in future. The lease deed was signed between DC Peren on behalf of the Government of Nagaland and Registrar CAU Imphal on behalf of the Vice Chancellor CAU, Imphal on January 21 at Peren, after the University officials inspected the site.
CAU Registrar, Dr. Pillai said that agriculture is the lifeline as well as a resource pool for the people of the North East and he is hopeful that the people of the region could benefit through small interventions by the CAU once the college is set up.
He also expressed optimism that the College of Veterinary Science Nagaland at Jalukie is expected to start by July this year if clearance is given by the Veterinary Council of India.
Meanwhile, CAU Imphal executive engineer Victor Kumrah informed that the college would be set up in a phase-wise manner wherein an amount of Rs.56.48 crore is estimated to be utilized in the first phase. He said the college would start initially with a pre-fabricated structure while the concrete constructions will take place side by side.
