The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has secured a financial assistance of Rs 455.02 crore from the Centre’s Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) for construction of new academic buildings, hostels and research centres.

The funds will also be used for establishment of Advanced Animal Research Facility, which will be useful for carrying out research on communicable, non-communicable and rare diseases including infectious agents such as novel coronavirus, JNU vice-chancellor M Jagdesh Kumar said.

Besides, the funds will also be used for installation of integrated and unified Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which will ensure that all academic and administrative processes are totally operated using online means in an integrated manner, Registrar Pramod Kumar said in a statement Tuesday.

This will make all the processes in the university efficient and time-bound, he added.

Vice-chancellor Kumar also said the funds allotted by the HRD Ministry’s HEFA shall be utilized for the construction of student hostels and academic buildings for the School of Engineering and Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management & Entrepreneurship, Trans-Disciplinary Academic Research, Advanced Animal Research Facility, Advanced Instrumentation Research Facility, Incubation Centre for start-up companies, Special Centre for e-Learning and Lecture Hall Complex.

Approximately, 1.3 lakh candidates apply for JNU entrance examination every year, but only about 2,000 get admission, the VC said.

The Special Centre for e-learning shall impart education by offering online degree programmes to many such students who could not be admitted in the JNU, he added.

“This is also in tune with the objectives of National Education Policy of increasing the gross enrollment ratio. The new Advanced Instrumentation Research Facility (AIRF) and Advanced Animal Research Facility shall increase the research capability of the university and also be made available for other institutions of the country as national facility,” he said.

The Advanced Animal Research Facility will be useful for carrying out research on communicable, non -communicable and rare diseases including infectious agents such as novel coronavirus.

The Vice-chancellor thanked the team of JNU officials who prepared the HEFA proposal and said the construction of new buildings and facilities would soon begin.

Source: PTI

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