Lucknow: Governor Anandiben Patel, chancellor of state universities, on Wednesday directed Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical University to make optimum use of its infrastructure for academic activities, citing vacant floors and underused facilities.Addressing the university’s convocation, Patel said the seventh and eighth floors of the administrative building were lying vacant, and several rooms on other floors were also unused. She said the three-storey auditorium, which has multiple seminar halls, had hosted only one programme during the year apart from the convocation.The governor raised concerns over campus upkeep, saying maintenance was not satisfactory despite the university having 148 sanitation workers. She pointed to poor sanitation behind residential quarters, lack of gardens and plantations on vacant land, and several staff quarters remaining unoccupied.Patel also said the university library was not being used properly. Referring to the Miyawaki plantation model implemented at Jan Bhavan, she asked the university to undertake a large-scale plantation drive on available land.The directions were issued on the basis of an inspection report submitted to Patel by a team from Jan Bhavan (formerly Raj Bhavan), after a visit to the university.Addressing representatives of 27 private and 28 govt-aided colleges honoured at the convocation, she asked teachers to seek student feedback on services rather than relying only on official records.Patel appealed to students to stay away from substance abuse and join the next phase of the Centre’s anti-drug campaign from Aug 18. Referring to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, she urged students to follow his ideals.
