Naveen! See beyond Cuttack

Tathya.in, 7th September, 2008
Sambalpur:7/September/2008

Non Resident Oriyas (NRO)s have charged Naveen Patnaik of narrow mindedness. They have justified the demands of the students and civil society for declaring University College of Engineering (UCE) Burla as a Unitary State University. When the Chief Minister of Orissa him self adopts partisan attitude over distribution of National Level Educational Institutions, various parts of the state is bound to face marginalization, feel leading educationists and NROs For Professor Chitta Baral, who is on the forefront of in leading the state on educational activism has lamented over the narrow-minded ness of the ruler. Professor Baral said with heavy heart that Orissa is not Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri (B-C-P). The land of 1, 55,707 square kilometers has to be seen beyond B-C-P, said he. But alas! The State Government is not looking beyond the coastal zone and marginalizing the entire Western Zone of the state, alleged he. Dr. Digambara Patra, another leading voice on education matters echo the voice of Professor Baral. He has proved with factual data and facts that the Chief Minister is marginalizing the Western Orissa at the coast of the Coastal Orissa. Giving out details Dr.Patra said that just few days before of sending a letter for IIT and Central University in Orissa to HRD ministry, Chief Minister of Orissa sent a similar letter to Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) asking to convert UCE Burla to a National Institute of Technology (NIT). The Chief Minister jolly well knows that MHRD has often pointed out that NIT would be established in those states where there is no NIT presently. That means the letter was just to eyewash Western Orissa people, said Dr.Patra. Professor Baral said that UCE Burla well deserves a state University, but Orissa Government again asked the Principal of the institution to file papers for a Deemed University to University Grants Commission (UGC). Declaration of Deemed University is in the hands of the Central Government and it will take a long time. Most of the Deemed Universities do not receive much funds from UGC. So what is the point!, asks Professor Baral. On the other hand most get UGC funding after they become 12 (B) eligible. The State Government can on its own declare UCE to be a State University by passing a bill. If Government of Orissa could do it for Ravenshaw College, which has already become 12 (B) eligible, why can not it do it for UCE, Burla?, asked he. Is it because Ravenshaw is in Cuttack and UCE Burla is in Sambalpur?, queried Professor Baral. Dr.Patra said that Kalahandi is central place to whole KBK region and Bhawanipatna is centrally located to all major towns in KBK. Those include backward pockets (as per the World Bank) in the region like Bouda, Balangir, Titilagarh, Padampur, Nuapada, Phulbani, Rayagada, Nabrangpur, Koraput, Patnagarh, Bargarh, etc. Despite promise made by the Chief Minister to a delegation from Kalahandi and also having all other infrastructure, Mr.Patnaik backed out. The State Government later proposed to shift the Central University in KBK to Koraput. The Central Government is establishing a National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), an AIIMS like institute and an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Bhubaneswar. Despite that Orissa Government has established IIIT again in Bhubaneswar. Another IIIT is being considered for Berhampur, said he. National educational institute should be equally distributed all over the region specially, for a state like Orissa where geographical distance is great. However the Western Orissa is regularly marginalized by Orissa Government and its mandarins. Does it make any sense to establish a Committee to address regional disparities in the state when the State Government and Orissa Chief Minister themselves are seriously marginalizing Western Orissa in setting up National educational institutes?, asked an agitated Dr.Patra.