NROs seek varsity status for Bhawanipatna college

The Pioneer, Dec 27, 2008
Pioneer News Service | Bhubaneswar

With Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik generously awarding the Unitary University status to various educational institutions, non-resident Oriyas (NROs) demand similar upgradation of the Government Autonomous College at Bhawanipatna, the headquarters of Kalahandi district.

Prof Digambara Patra, a leading voice of NROs, has sent an e-mail to the Chief Minister urging him to declare the college a Unitary University.

Prof Patra has argued that a Unitary University provides many additional advantages to an autonomous college in introducing new courses depending on local needs at the graduate and postgraduate levels. This status helps improve substantially research activities and facilitates employment of permanent faculties who can support research and education in the long-term development of the institution. And most importantly, it ushers in more funds from the Government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to improve infrastructure, teaching programmes and research facilities, said Prof Patra, who teaches in a top class university in Beirut.

He has welcomed the recent decision of the State Government to convert Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, and UCE Burla into Unitary Universities and the move to accord the same status to the Khallikote College, Berhampur.

Echoing Prof Patra’s views, another active NRO, Madhusmita Panda, has also justified the cause of the Bhawanipatna college. She pointed out that this college, being one of the prides of the KBK as well as western Orissa regions, has been catering to the need of higher learning for about last 50 years. It is enjoying the status of “College with Potential for Excellence” (CPE) since September 2004 being one among the first 47 colleges of the whole nation. It is among the first three colleges and the only one in the KBK region to receive the CPE honour.

The NROs argue that despite being located in an underdeveloped region, this college has established itself as one in maintaining high quality in education in this part of the State. Students of the college have been securing top ranks at the university level as well as the State level in various fields. On the other hand, there is no State University in Kalahandi or the KBK region to meet local requirements.

The Bhawanipatna college now has limited flexibility to introduce new courses. There is demand for courses like nursing, pharmacy, optometrist, agriculture, horticulture, banking and services, metal processing, information processing, computer science and medicine at the diploma, bachelor and postgraduate courses. This would serve greater purpose in the KBK region once the college receives the Unitary University status, the NROs further argue.