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UGC to set up Rs 50 crore rural development body

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Kalpana Pathak Mumbai
The University Grants Commission (UGC) is shortly expected to set up a Rs 50 crore national institute for rural development.
 
Under this initiative, an inter-university consortium will be set up which will bring various universities together for development of the rural areas in terms of education, health, poverty alleviation, gender equity and environmental sustainability.
 
Towards this end, the UGC has set up a committee of vice-chancellors which is studying the prospects of setting up the national body and is expected to submit the report by December this year.
 
"With many institutes in India involved in rural development, UGC's rural development initiative will act as a link between the, health institutions, industry bodies, planning institution and NGOs to study and improve the rural framework of the country," said a Vice-Chancellor who did not wish to be quoted.
 
This initiative of the UGC is based on its earlier two successful projects "� The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET).
 
NAAC is an autonomous body established by the UGC to assess and accredit institutions of higher education in the country. INFLIBNET, on the other hand, is involved in creating infrastructure for sharing of library and information resources and services among academic and research institutions. It works collaboratively with Indian university libraries.
 
Under this programme, the whole country will be divided in to 20 agro-ecological region with one national body taking care of the regional bodies.
 
The regional hubs will provide knowledge connectivity of the regions to at the national level.
 
The project will also provide region-based managerial and technical courses and train people for each region. They will identify and promote an institute for leadership in regional development.
 
At the national level there will be one Inter-University Consortium, which will be housed in a university campus.
 
The 20 regional hubs will also be housed in university campuses. Exchange will happen between these hubs to share the local knowledge.

 
 

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First Published: Jun 04 2007 | 12:00 AM IST

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