There seems to be no respite for Utkal University of Culture, State’s only culture varsity, from the various problems it has been facing. The most important being lack of infrastructure and vacancies in teaching and non-teaching posts.
Although the deadline of November 30 for permanent campus of the University passed, works are far from complete. Construction for the University’s permanent campus was started in 2008-09 at Madanpur village on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The State Government had allotted 46.185-acre land for the purpose and IDCO was assigned the construction work.
However, only two buildings are nearing completion at present. University sources said while construction for academic block is yet to begin, that of the library building, conference hall, post office and other components included in the master plan of the campus are ongoing.
Sources added that Rs 18 crore has been earmarked for the construction of the varsity’s various buildings excluding the academic block.
Though 40 institutions, including four government ones, are affiliated to it, the University runs from a leased land in Unit II.
Similarly, recruitment of teachers to the University has remained sluggish. Apparently, the authorities have not been able to find UGC qualified teachers against the vacant posts.
The State Government in April had given the go-ahead to the University for filling up 19 permanent faculty posts and the process started in May. In the first phase, the University managed to appoint 12 teachers. Though the authorities were hopeful of filling up the remaining vacancies by July, they are reportedly not getting candidates for the posts who are qualified as per the UGC norms.
In July, the University had advertised for permanent teachers for eight vacant posts - painting, drama (direction), applied art and design, flute, Odissi dance, drama (acting) and Chau dance.
“There are candidates who have been trained under gurus in their respective fields, but do not meet the UGC norms as far as teaching experience or doctoral degrees are concerned. In fact, this has been the biggest stumbling block in filling up the vacancies,” said an official.
Vice-Chancellor Amiya Kumar Pattanayak said: “The IDCO has promised to complete the construction works by March. In the meantime, we will shift to the Madanpur campus once construction of the two buildings is over. These two buildings are enough for running classes with the existing student strength.”
About the seven vacant posts, he said some applications had been received and candidates will be called for interview this month. As far as non-teaching staff is concerned, the University functions with just 26 persons. The requirement, however, is four times of that. University authorities had submitted proposals for appointment of 72 non-teaching staff several times.