PG Centre's new building ushers hope

The new year is full of bright hopes for the people of Kolar City. The students, lecturers and staff members of the Post Graduate Centre of Bangalore University will soon have an independent building of their own.

The new building of the Post Graduate Centre of Bangalore University is under the process of construction on the outskirts of Kolar City. The new building is well-facilitated, has good basic infrastructure with good campus area.

At present, the Post Graduate Centre is functioning on the premises of the Government Boys College in the City. The students had to sit crammed in congested classrooms.

The students were facing this problem for the last ten years. Conducting classes on borrowed premises was proving to be a great difficulty to the University. The new building is coming up at a cost of Rs 10 crore, on 30 acres of land near Mangasandra on Malur Road on the outskirts of Kolar City. The construction activities was going on in full swing. And it will take a period of six months to complete the structure.

Administrative block

Most of the construction activities pertaining to the competition of the administrative block had been completed and only the final phase of the activity was remaining.

Ideally located in the laps of nature, among the stone boulders below the foothill, the Post Graduate Centre is going to function in an extremely soothing and quiet atmosphere.  The entire region between Mangasandra and Cheluvanahalli, which is about three kms stretch, is blessed abundantly by mother nature. An excellent location for pursuing higher education.

The foundation stone for the construction of the new Post Graduate Centre was laid three years back.  The project did not pick up as fast as expected, mired in agitations, demands and appeals by the people of Kolar district urging the Government to ensure that the Post Graduate Centre in Kolar would become the main centre of activities, in case the Bangalore University was bifurcated.  Caught amidst these issues, it is only in the recent past that the construction activities picked up pace.

The foundation stone was laid down by the then chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, in the year 2007. Ever since, there had been a continuous tug of war between the Forest Department and Bangalore University regarding land acquisition, which is continued till today.

Not ready to part

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Assistant Executive Engineer of Bangalore University Vinayshankar said, the land between the Malur Main Road till the building of the Post Graduation Centre belonged to the Forest Department.

The Forest Department was not agreeing to part with this part of the land to the University. The matter was still not resolved, with the Forest Department even refusing to part the land, where the Post Graduate Centre is coming up. This was hindering the construction activities. Later on, the land was recovered and the project began to materialise.

The University is planning to complete the project in another six months’ time, he informed and added, the administrative block is nearing competition. It will be completely ready within a couple of months and will be almost ready for use. Meanwhile, the construction of classrooms was going on and building will be ready by six months, the assistant executive engineer informed.

Jail premises

The Post Graduate Centre which is functioning on the premises of Government Boys’ College in Kolar City, was once upon a jail, during the British rule. Post graduate classes for Kannada, Economics, Sociology and Commerce subjects are being held at present. Due to lack of students, the classes to the Biology department remain cancelled.

Inconveniences

The staff members were unhappy over the fact that the premises did not have any basic infrastructure for the last 15 years. The students and staff members were facing a lot of inconveniences.

Though simultaneously eight classes are run, the students for optional subjects have to wait for sometime, due to lack of classrooms. There is only a common single door to the toilets for both boys and girls.

The lecturers and professors did not have separate chambers, while, the only staff chamber which is available, is extremely small. The director’s chamber and the administrative office, both function together from the same room. Books and reference material belonging to all the subjects are kept in a single cupboard in a small room.

There is no separate reading room for the students. The students and teachers have been suffering in such inconvenient situations, the staff members brood over.

Positive change

Reader of Kannada department Dr D Dominique stated the Post Graduate Centre was supposed to bring in a positive change in the academic and cultural regions of the district. But unfortunately, due to its own limitations, it is yet to begin its influence. However, the new building has ushered in a lot of hope. People are expecting that the Centre will soon became a hub of academic activities.