Renovation of Maharajas College to be taken up

Works Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju has said that `3 crore would be spent to maintain the rich heritage of the 125-year-old Maharaja’s College and to get NAAC accreditation for the institution. The money would be spent to improve the infrastructure of the college. The minister was inaugurating the work on basic facilities of the college as part of elevating it to a centre of excellence.

Besides the Rs 3 crore allotted by the government, an additional Rs 3 crore would be given by the Works Department for developing the basic facilities and Rs  1 crore for developing the Students Amenity Centre. Of the 10 modern toilets, each allotted to three cities in the gender budget, two will be set up in the college. Two toilets will be built for boys as part of another project. The classroom facilities would be improved and the main hall would be converted into an art hall, he said.

 The projects would be taken up in a time-bound manner and a monitoring committee headed by the MLA would be formed.

The academic quality will be given a boost and the monitoring panel will meet in the college on Fridays, he said.

Hibi Eden MLA who presided over the function said that the need of the hour is to take up the development work without spoiling the beauty of the campus. An international seminar hall will be built with Rs 50 lakh from the Asset Development Fund, Eden said.

The Minister presided over the first review meeting of the project. The work on the gate at the west entrance, costing Rs 7 lakh, and two other gates, costing `83,000, is going on at the campus. The drainage and road work on the campus and the renovation of Hindi and  music departments are also going on with a total budget of Rs 3 lakh each from the non-Plan fund.

Union Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies K V Thomas has given Rs 17 lakh for the canteen construction and Hibi Eden Rs 10 lakh from the MPs and MLAs funds respectively.

From the Rs 3 crore allotted by the government, `50 lakh has been set aside for improving the quality of teachers, Rs 1 crore for electrical wiring, and Rs 1.5 crore for building maintenance.