General Council approves vote on account of ₹206.68 crore for first quarter

The annual meeting of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) General Council has approved vote on account of ₹206.68 crore for the first quarter of 2019-20.

Vice Chancellor R. Chandra Babu, who chaired the meeting, said that an abstract of the budget estimate and vote on account were presented in the background of the model code of conduct being in force ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. A detailed budget will be presented later, he said.

Out of the 206.68 crore passed for the first quarter of ensuing fiscal, ₹160.33 crore is for Non-Plan expenditure and ₹26.29 crore, for Plan expenditure. ₹20.06 crore is expenditure under external aided projects and revolving fund projects. The expected total outlay of the budget for 2019-20 is ₹620 crore.

Thrust area

The Vice Chancellor also said that the university would form a separate department for organic farming in line with an Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) decision. This would augment studies and research in organic farming, which was a thrust area in the State farming policy.