Mumbai: After a seven-year delay, the Kalyan sub-centre of the University of Mumbai (MU) will be functional for students residing in distant suburbs. The 6.2 acres sub-centre will have post-graduation courses, Institute of Distance and Open Learning (IDOL) courses and School of Engineering whose admission process will kick-start immediately after the Diwali vacation.
Till Monday, construction on 48,000 sq feet land has been completed which is called ‘First Phase Construction’. The First Phase Construction includes four classrooms, one administrative office and a library. Post-graduation courses such Masters in Technology (M.Tech) in School of Engineering will commence from the next academic year 2018-19. After the Diwali vacations, IDOL courses will commence for which the study materials will be distributed in a week.
“There are so many things happening within the varsity, and there was a shortage of funds. Construction and management are obviously not possible without funds and planning, and so the work was delayed,” said a source.
The registrar in-charge, Dinesh F Kamble said that the sub-centre is a ‘dream project’ for the university as it would be a great help for the students of Kalyan and areas beyond it.
“Once everything is working successfully they would not need to Kalina campus for everything. This will save their energy, money and time,” he said.
According to Mr Kamble, a help desk, exam centres and Personal Contact Programmes (PCP) for the students would be available at the sub-centre campus. PCP is where the institute organises guidance lectures in certain courses for the benefit of the students.
In the year 2007, the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) de-reserved the land for MU’s sub-centre. The plot was a garden land. After a couple of months, the management council of MU approved the project of building a sub-centre for the students residing between Kalyan, Karjat and Kasara.
After the implementation of the project, students don’t need to come all the way to Kalina campus. Instead, they can approach the Kalyan sub-centre or campus. The inauguration of this sub-centre was done in the year 2014 by the then Vice-Chancellor Rajan Welukar.
