Udaipur Fisheries College crying for attention

UDAIPUR: The Fisheries College, Udaipur, affiliated to Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology (MPUAT), which is the only one of its kind in the state, is gasping for breath due to the apathy of the state government.
Though the college was set up in November 2003 by upgrading the department of limnology and fisheries of the university, it is yet to get the requisite approval from the state government.
Because of the lack of approval, the university authorities have not included the college for the Joint Entrance Test (JET) in the last four years, reinforcing the suspicion that the college may meet a premature death.
Though the first batch of BFSc students (2003-04) are slated to pass out in June this year, the college may become virtually non functional and the faculty will be paid for literally doing no work.
The college offers a four-year Bachelor of Fisheries Science (BFSc) and a two year Master of Fisheries Science (MFSc) course with specialisation in aquaculture. In the MFSc course, admissions were limited to a couple of paid seats in the absence of approval by the government.
In fact, fisheries can create gainful employment to the rural masses, especially for the tribals of south Rajasthan.
Retired professor and head of the department of limnology, Dr VJ Druve, pointed out that the state is abundant in water resources with high potential for inland fish production.
���The state is having a reservoir hectarage of 1.53 lakh and its tanks and ponds hectarage is 1.80 lakh, which is next only to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,��� he said. ���But the total fish production in Rajasthan remained 15,000 tonnes per annum, just a fraction of its full potential, in the absence of trained manpower and neglect of this sector,��� he said.
Fisheries College was one of the three colleges proposed by the then vice-chancellor Prof R P Singh (April 2003-July 2004) along with a College of Horticulture and Forestry at Jhalawar and a Veterinary College at Bhinder.
Except the Fisheries College, the other two colleges received approval from the state government, thanks to political patronage. Dr Madhusudhan Sharma, dean of Science College and president of Udaipur district congress committee said that the state government���s claim that the college started without its prior approval was no longer valid.
If that was the case, then why sanction was given to the other two colleges, which were also set up without getting the prior approval of the government, he asked.
The irony is that unlike the other two colleges, the Fisheries College has got its own building and a full-fledged faculty. Vice-chancellor Shantilal Metha, while ruling out the closure of the college, at least for the time being, expressed his dissatisfaction. ���How long can I run the college without the approval of the government?��� he asked. According to him, the proposal for approval is still pending with the government.
Home minister Gulab Chand Kataria, who represents the Udaipur constituency, while denying any political indifference coming in the way of getting approval for the College, put the blame on the University. ���May be the university authorities have failed to convince the government of the utility of the college and not pursued the matter earnestly���.