University is all set to double up as a tourist spot, in a bid to showcase its rich cultural history from this academic session. This will be part of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the institution, said Vice-Chancellor Ramesh Goyal on Sunday while outlining his plans for Vision-2011.

Goyal said he has chalked out plans to put up statements on the foundation stones in all historical buildings and monuments in the campus. “The presence of the highest dome of Asia turns it (MSU) into unique historical site,” he said.

The textile museum, galleries of the Faculty of Fine Arts and the proposed Indus-Saraswati Centre and other faculties will be the biggest attractions for tourists, he said. The Indus-Saraswati Centre is awaiting approval from the Vadodara District Collectorate to start the work in the Sharkha village, close to the city, he added.

Among other announcements made as part of his Vision-2011, Goyal said, a public relation officer will be appointed within a week to act as the spokesperson for the university.

Goyal’s vision document covers an array of issues from raising scholarships given to the meritorious students to revising the pay scales of the Class IV employees. Other issues include securing the unique autonomous character of the university and a special award for the non-teaching employees.

“When I joined the university, I made it a point to meet Class IV employees first and listen to their grievances,” Goyal said.

Incidentally, Goyal has also sought the help of the Vadodara Mahanagar Seva Sadan to improve the security arrangement in the university. He has also ensured that it is well-maintained. Goyal, however, did not specify as to when the arrangements will finaly take shape.

He admitted to the lack of modernisation in many departments, and said it will be addressed immediately. “We are planning to computerise all the accounts, exam system and the administrative management,” he said, adding that there have been a lot of controversies, “but the problems can be easily addressed”.

Goyal, who had been associated with clinical research for several years, also plans to start similar research studies in the university. “I was into research while serving in Ahmedabad. Here too, I would like to see that clinical research is given its due recognition,” he said.

Meanwhile, Goyal also announced plans to set up a special committee for the diamond jubilee celebrations to begin in 2009. The committee will be headed by Syndicate member Anjana Desai, and will work towards instituting special awards for the staff and students.

Vision-2011 at a glance:
* To develop five new full-time courses and two new institutes
* To have a centralised placement cell and to see that there is maximum/target-oriented placement for the students
* To organise at least one international level conference, which should have at least one Nobel laureate participating in it along with at least 10% delegates from outside India
* To increase inter-departmental interaction
* To organise workshops in the Faculty of Education and Psychology in accordance with Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Bal Gokulam’ children university project

MSU reluctant to take action in thrashing incident
Even as the footage of two students being bashed up in the M A Hall of MS University for allegedly stealing a cell phone from a fellow student were relayed over and over again on Sunday, the authorities showed their reluctance to take any action against the miscreants. Chief Warden D P Bharambe said the miscreants did not belong to the hostel. On Saturday, Bhavya and Manu were bashed up with hockey sticks by a group of M A hostel students, apparently belonging to the Bapu group. Meanwhile, Bhavya and Manu today accused M A Hall Warden G A Solanki for having information about the incident while claiming that they are innocent. Both students have, however, refused to file any police complaint. Strangely, the incident occurred in the presence of the watchman, who according to eyewitnesses, fled the scene