Kerala University's unprecedented budget announcements

It is a rigidly kept belief that the scope of universities is restricted just to academic excellence and nothing else. As per the existing norm, students exiting universities have to scour for employment and spend maybe months or years in search of lucrative jobs. This needs to be changed. Development of workplaces should be made in connection with university centres, which will help universities to actively contribute to the development and progress of the country.

Though late, many universities have started efforts to do the same which is appreciable. Many new announcements in the budget of the University of Kerala give hints of changing times. The decision to develop supercapacitors used in electric batteries at the University's Energy Materials and Devices Laboratory aims to increase revenue and provide employment opportunities to graduates.

Electric vehicle sales are thriving in the market and the trend is set to soar. So universities moving ahead with developing equipment related to electric vehicles shows how prudent the decision is. Likewise, the university and its affiliated colleges should also step in to give contributions to the location where they are placed. While it is the government's responsibility to take steps to address it, universities can also research sea attacks and scientific solutions. If landslides and other natural disasters are causing problems elsewhere, the universities also must conduct studies on the same and come up with solutions. With such contributions, universities will prove to be of value not just to students but also to the country.

Budget announcements to research to study coastal erosion in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts; to discover the medicinal properties of panikoorka, to study pest control using spiders; can prove effective in helping the university stand on its own feet in terms of income. Also unprecedented was the announcement of a Sandeshayatra to Sri Lanka to commemorate Sri Narayana Gurudev's famous Sri Lanka Yatra. It can be assumed that the trip involving the students and the teacher helps evaluate the sole foreign trip undertaken by the guru during his lifetime. The matter of establishing a special chair in the name of Ayya Vaikunda Swamigal is also something that the university should consider.

To fulfil Raja Ravi Varma's long dream, the University will build the Department of Education and Studies in Thycaud as the Raja Ravi Varma Art Gallery. The budget contains many great announcements like making the Karyavattom campus an academic tourist centre, adopting five sportspersons and providing free accommodation, food and training at the Karyavattom campus, awarding half a lakh rupee to young scientists and starting new online courses.