Vadodara: US-based alumni of MS University have started raising funds for their alma matter.It was last year that after going through a rigorous process, ‘MSU Alumni Foundation Inc’ had got registered as a charitable organization at Houston so that the wide-spread alumnus of the university can donate to their alma matter and also get tax rebate in US. On Monday, the foundation handed over two cheques worth US$ 5,000 each to the university even as it has pledged for more support to the publicly-funded varsity.Houston-based Jagat Kamdar, who is president of MSU Alumni Foundation Inc and graduate of 1963 batch of textile engineering department of MSU’s Faculty of Technology and Engineering (FTE) along with another Houston-based alumni Mahendra Vaishnav, from the 1966 batch of the architecture department, who is foundation’s core committee member, handed over US$ 10,000 to MSU vice-chancellor professor Parimal Vyas in presence of university officials.The first donation from the alumni foundation will be used for scholarships to students and setting up an elevator facility at the main block of FTE.The foundation has over 300 members based in Houston who are alumnus of the varsity and are part of the team. With the support of the Office of Alumni Affairs (OAA) set up by MSU, the foundation is also working to create a database of all the alumni of the university settled in US while it is motivating others to form their own chapters/ associations in different states of the US.During the last get-together of Diwali festivities at Houston, video recordings of Vyas, MSU chancellor Shubhangini Raje Gaekwad and OAA director Dr Sanskriti Mujumdar were displayed before the alumni, who had gathered in large numbers.“In the last one year, they have raised US$1.5 lakh. Our alumni has transferred US$ 10,000 on trial basis as transfer of funds usually takes long time,” said Mujumdar. According to university authorities, registration of foundation as charitable organisation was important as otherwise those alumni who would have donated money to the varsity in dollars would have not received any tax rebate in the US. The proposals include construction of boys and girls hostel, as the hostel students are facing space crunch, support to their respective parent departments and construction of a separate building for Faculty of Journalism and Communication.

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