Gadchiroli to get agriculture college

Updated on: Friday, July 01, 2011

The state government has decided to set up a college in Gadchiroli, which will offer a diploma course in agriculture. Eighty per cent of the seats in the proposed college will be reserved for local tribal people. "Children of tribal people in Gadchiroli get education till secondary level, but have to go to other places for higher education, which leads to spending more. With the new agriculture diploma college, tribal people can come into mainstream education,"said Vijay Kolte, vice president of Maharashtra Council for Agricultural Education and Research (MCAER), while addressing a news conference on Thursday to give information about decisions taken by the council.

The council heads agriculture universities in the state and plays a major role in their administration and forming of policies. Kolte said, "The state government has sanctioned Rs 10 crore for the college in Gadchiroli under the state tribal sub-plan. The college will start functioning from the next academic year. The state home minister and district guardian minister of Gadchiroli, R R Patil, has taken an initiative in sanctioning and completing construction of the college.

The tribal people will become eligible for jobs in government as well as private sector once they take up higher education. The college will be a government-aided one as no private institution was keen on investing in areas which are prone to Naxalism."Another project mooted by state is the setting up of agriculture knowledgebased school in the Melghat tribal belt, which is infamous for malnutrition deaths. Kolte said, "The proposal has been approved in-principle and is waiting for state finance department's nod. It is aimed at developing skills among tribals and increase their employability."Among the other major decisions taken by the council include providing express feeders for supplying power to Punjabrao Deshmukh Agriculture University, Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Agriculture University and Marathwada Agriculture University. The Rahuri-based Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth already enjoys an express feeder facility.

Times of India

Gadchiroli to get agriculture college

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