A planning board to suggest administrative reforms and skill development programmes, a postgraduate diploma in geriatric care and management, a diploma in communicative Sanskrit, and an IT company at the Technopark here are among the proposals in the annual budget 2014-15 of the University of Kerala adopted by the Senate on Wednesday.

The budget, along with all official items of the agenda, was declared passed by Vice- Chancellor K.P. Radhakrishnan amid sustained protests by Left Democratic Front (LDF) Senate members demanding the removal of Syndicate member B.S. Jyothikumar. The Chancellor had recently asked the Vice-Chancellor to conduct an inquiry into allegations against the Chamakkala education trust and the B.Ed. College run by it. Mr. Jyothikumar is the manager of the college.

The budget expects a total income of Rs.312.02 crore and an expenditure of Rs.323.95 crore.

Thakazhi chair
A chair in the name of writer Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai will be instituted.

In order to avoid a delay in the issue of degree certificates, the certificate fee will be collected along with the fee for the last semester. From the next academic year, the varsity will issue online the transcripts of the mark lists for various examinations, the budget speech read.

Along with a department of public administration, the university will begin a University Institute of Technology (UIT) at Pathanamthitta. From the next academic year, students from foreign countries signing up for doctoral research will have to write compulsorily an entrance examination. The high-performance laboratory set up on the Karyavattom campus will be upgraded to a high-performance computing centre.

Efforts will be made to secure space at the Technopark to set up an IT company of the university. The University Computer Centre will be in charge of this. An aquarium will be constructed near the university observatory.

PG diplomas
While an M.Com. programme in Accounting will be started in the Department of Commerce, a postgraduate diploma in marriage and family counselling will be set up in the Department of Sociology, postgraduate diplomas in Biochemical Engineering and Bio-process Technology at the Department of Biotechnology, and a course in intellectual property rights in the Department of Law.

The university will appoint a director for the placement cell and a placement officer. The office automation scheme will be complete in the finance and examination wings this financial year. The Senate Hall will be air-conditioned. The university will soon begin constructing an apartment complex for its employees. A reservoir and a check-dam will be set up inside the Karyavattom campus.

A statue of Mahatma Gandhi will be installed near the main entrance to the Karyavattom campus, the budget speech read.