Rs2.06b UVAS budget approved

LAHORE
University of Veterinary and Animal Science (UVAS) syndicate on Monday approved Rs2.06 billion budget for financial year 2015-16.
The 41st syndicate meeting chaired by Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Tallat Naseer Pasha decided that there would be no increase in fee for students and focus of the university would be on applied research during the year. It was also decided that the university would continue to provide free education and accommodation to 38 students from Balochistan in the next financial year. Of 38 Balochistan students, 13 are studying in PhD, 12 in MPhil and 13 in undergraduate degree programmes.
According to the budget, Rs735 million have been allocated for different research projects. The university has also increased the students’ scholarship amount to Rs32 million for next fiscal. The university had provided Rs28 million scholarships in 2013-14 and Rs31 million in 2014-15.
The vice-chancellor told the meeting that Rs923.126 million had been allocated for development projects.
Of this amount, Rs120 million will be spent on development projects of Ravi Campus Pattoki, Rs36 million on College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Jhang, Rs40 million on the development of a new Para-Veterinary School at Narowal and Rs700 million on Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Bahawalpur. The syndicate approved seven new degree programmes, including BS Applied Microbiology (evening), MSc Statistics, MSc Chemistry, MPhil Meat Science and Technology, MPhil Business Management, MBA Management Sciences and MPhil Pet Animal Practice.
Earlier, presenting the budget before the Syndicate, Treasurer Muhammad Aslam Pervaiz said the university expected an income of Rs1.95 billion from different sources during the financial year 2015-16. Giving the budget breakdown, he said that Rs923.126 million had been allocated for development projects while non-development expenditures were estimated at Rs1.077 billion. He said the UVAS expected Rs1.018 billion as non-development income; so there is a deficit of Rs58.782 million. The vice-chancellor said the university would try to meet the budget deficit by generating more income from its own resources. He said special austerity measures would be adopted to limit the recurring expenditure within available funds. He said the faculty members were contributing a hefty amount to the university income through their competitive research grants. They won research grants of Rs605.948 million in 2013-14 and Rs734.952 million in 2014-15 with 22 percent increase, he added.