Bengal’s first private veterinary college is coming up at Hooghly’s Mogra, 65km from the heart of Calcutta.
The college will start classes before the year ends, said an official.
The JIS College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (JISCOVAS), for now, will offer a five-and-a-half-year programme in bachelor of veterinary science and
animal husbandry (BVSc and AH).
The undergraduate course includes a year’s compulsory internship.
The college is affiliated to the West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences (WBUAFS) and recognised by the Veterinary Council of India.
The programme has an intake capacity of 80 students per academic session.
“Candidates must qualify in the NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and secure a minimum of 50% marks in physics, chemistry, biology, and English in their higher secondary
(Plus-II) examination for general category students. Relaxation in marks applies to candidates belonging to reserved categories as per government norms. Applicants must be between 18 and 25 years of age,” a spokesperson for the institute said at the ceremonial launch at a Maidan club on Friday.
The campus already has a veterinary hospital and farms, the spokesperson said.
Taranjit Singh, managing director of the JIS Group; Mozammel Hoque, principal of the new college, and Promit K. Ghosal, project coordinator, were among those who attended the programme.
The West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences has its main campus in Belgachhia, from where it still runs a postgraduate course. The university’s campus for the undergraduate course is in Nadia’s Mohanpur. Both are the only such centres in Bengal.
“The state now produces only around 100 graduates in a batch. A handful of them move to other states. There is a gap between the demand and supply,” Ghosal told Metro.
Veterinarian Dayanarayan Banerjee, a former senior officer with the state government and a member of the state veterinary council, said government recruitments are made through the Public Service Commission after every couple of years.
Private dairy companies, cattle-feed makers, vaccine makers and pharma companies are among the other recruiters.
“The establishment of JISCOVAS is not just about creating a new college, but it is about shaping the future of veterinary sciences in Bengal and beyond...,” Singh said on Friday.