Upgrade Govt. A. College Bhawanipat​na along with R D Women's college, G M college and Khallikote college to varsities as per task force recommenda​tion

Jan 3, 2013

Dear Honourable Chief Minister Mr. Patnaik,

Wish you happyness, peace, and long life in the new year. This year may bring more prosperity and peace to Odisha under your able leadeship.

I am glad that state Govt. is likely to upgrade Khallikote Autonomous College Berhampur, R D Women’s Autonomous College Bhubaneswar, and G M Autonomous College Sambalpur to varsity soon.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Varsity-status-likely-for-3-colleges/articleshow/17869648.cms

However, as per eariler recommendation by Higher Education Task Force, other colleges specially those which are far away from traditional universities, should have been upgraded at the same time. As per task force recommendation Govt. Autonomous College Bhawanipatna falls in this category and should have been also upgraded to a state University in the same year as that of abouve three colleges at Berhampur, Sambalpur and Bhubaneswar.

The indispensable of a state University at Bhawanipatna for KBK region bears significance because for practical purpose, local students and people of KBK suffer while travelling to Sambalpur or Berhampur Universities due to long distance and poor communication.

Beside as a location Bhawanipatna has advanatage being the central town among KBK districts, on the other hand perfomance of Govt. Autonomous College Bhawanipatna has been outstanding. It is one of the first three colleges in Odisha which received Potential Centre of Excellence from UGC, along with Gr M Autonomous College at Sambalpur and Ravenshaw College at Cuttack in Odisha. Ravenshaw College has been already made university. G M College is likely to be upgraded to a University soon. Except these three colleges, the colleges which have received PEC status in Odisha from UGC are Khallikote Autonomous College Berhampur and Fakir Mohan Autonomous College Balasore. Fakir Mohan University was established and Khallikote Autonomous College Berhampur is likely to be upgraded to vartsity. Only college having PEC status in Odisha and left over to be upgraded is Govt. Autonomous College Bhawanipatna despite recommendation from the Higher Education Task Force. It may be noted that Govt. Autonomous College Bhawanipatna is the only college in KBK having PEC status.

It is very important that higher education growth in the state does not get much more Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, Sambalpur or Berhampur centric and it must be inclusive across the state taking backwardness, remoteness and geography  into consideration. KBK is  one region which has not got sufficient attention while establishing state Govt. universities despite having 30% of the area and 20% of the population in Odisha, out of which a large portion is tribal or BPL. 

I urge you to upgrade immediately Govt. Autonomous College Bhawanipatna to a state University along with other three colleges in Berhampur, Sambalpur and Bhubaneswar to fulfil the desire and requirement of KBK people as per Task Force Recommendation.

Thanking you and best regards

Digambara Patra

Additional Note: Odisha higher education task force has already recommended for upgrading Government Autonomous College Bhawanipatna (GACB) to a state University in South Western Odisha region. Although the task force has recommended the name as South Western Odisha University, recently I realised that there is no university in the name of ODISHA UNIVERSITY.

Beside ODISHA UNIVERSITY, Mahakantara University (in the line of Utkal University) could also be seriously considered due to historical significance of this region. Ancient MAHAKANTARA consisting present days KBK-Kandhamal region has a great history. Perhaps very few other regions in present Odisha except Bhubaneswar region have a great ancient civilization like KBK, about 2000 – 5000 years old. The history of KBK goes back to the primitive period where a well-civilized, urbanized and cultured people inhabited on this land mass around 2000 years ago. World's largest celt of Stone Age and largest cemetery of megalithic age have been discovered here – this shows the region had cradle of civilization since the pre-historic era. Asurgarh in Kalahandi was one of the oldest metropolises in present Odisha whereas the other one was Sisupalgarh. The history of Kalahandi is rich in terms of contribution towards the Indian culture and temple architecture. Temple of Goddess Stambeswari, built during 500 AD, is a perfect example where the first brick Temple in Eastern India was built. Sanskritization in Odisha was first started from ancient Mahakantara region. Earliest flat-roofed stone temple of Orissa was built at Mohangiri in Kalahandi during 600 AD. Temple architecture achieved perfection at Belkhandi in Kalahandi and then traversed to Ekamra, present Bhubaneswar, along with the political expansion of the Somavamsis during the 1000–1100 AD. Some other historical forts in the region includes Budhigarh (ancient period), Amthagarh (ancient period), Belkhandi (ancient to medieval period), Tersinga, and Dadpur-Jajjaldeypur (medieval period). In ancient history this kingdom was serving as salt route to link between ancient Kalinga and South Kosala. This land was unconquered by the great Ashoka. In medieval period also the region had played a prominent role to link South India, Eastern India and Central India region and witnessed the battle ground for Somavansi, Chola, Kalachuris and Gangas. The distribution and occurrence of precious and semi-precious gemstones and other commercial commodities of this region have found place in accounts of Panini (5th century BC), Kautilya (3rd century BC), Ptolemy (2nd century AD), Wuang Chuang (7th century AD) and Travenier (19th century AD).

Unfortunately rich historical significance of this region is not getting notice and recognized in the state Governmental level.