Panaji: Goa’s newly established College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences is set to welcome its first batch of students after all 40 seats earmarked for the inaugural class were filled.According to the college authorities, all 40 admissions have been completed, with the first batch comprising students from Goa. Of the 40 students, 23 are girls.“The college is expected to formally begin academic activities in the last week of Sep or the first week of Oct, once the ongoing counselling and admission process is completed,” dean Rajkumar Solomon told TOI.The second round of counselling has concluded, while further rounds are expected as students move between courses and seats are stabilised. The final student composition is expected to be settled by next week.The institution is also in the process of building its academic staff. The college has currently advertised 26 faculty positions, with interviews already under way. Two rounds of interviews have been completed, and the administration expects the recruitment process to be completed by the end of Sep.“In the longer term, we plan to seek approval for a faculty strength of around 80 specialists, covering different disciplines within veterinary science,” Solomon said.The college is currently operating from renovated buildings at Ponda that were previously associated with a veterinary training centre of the department of animal husbandry and veterinary services.“The facilities have been upgraded to accommodate the first and second years of the veterinary programme. Further infrastructure is planned as the college expands to the third and fourth years,” Solomon said.A major component of the planned expansion is a new veterinary hospital, for which the foundation stone is expected to be laid in Oct. The proposed hospital will have an area of approximately 3,000 sqm and is planned to provide both outpatient and inpatient services.“The hospital will have the capacity to accommodate around 20 animals as inpatients on a given day,” Solomon said.
