SAMBALPUR: Construction of a new hostel will be completed on the premises of Sambalpur University this month to provide accommodation to students of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Sambalpur and Sambalpur University. This was decided by Collector Samartha Verma on Monday, a day after it came to fore that 12 students of IIM-Sambalpur have recently left the institute owing to lack of proper hostel facility at Sambalpur University, which is the temporary campus of the premiere B-school.
Verma, who convened a meeting on Monday to sort out the hostel accommodation problem, said the issue would be resolved by September 30. The meeting was attended by Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Sambalpur University Deepak Behera and administrative head of the IIM-S, Dipti Ranjan Mohapatra besides, officials of the Public Works Department (PWD).
IIM-Sambalpur has doubled its student intake capacity from 60 to 120 from the current academic session. The fourth batch of the institution commenced from July 30 this year. A total of 111 students had taken admission in the institute this year.According to reports, the State Government had allotted three hostels for the students of IIM-S in the university campus. However, the university authorities agreed to provide only two hostels during signing of MoU between the two institutions.
The university was supposed to provide the two hostels by July but, the only one hostel besides, a portion of another hostel could be provided to IIM-S. The Sambalpur University accommodated its 70 students in the remaining half portion of the second hostel building. However, due to the lack of rooms in the hostel, the authorities of IIM-S were forced to accommodate their 27 students in dormitory. Subsequently, 12 students of the IIM-S left the premier B-School due to unavailability of rooms in the hostel. At present, 15 students of the IIM-S are staying in dormitory.
Verma has asked the PWD officials to complete the work on the new hostel, which is being constructed on the university premises, by September 20 and hand it over to the university authorities. The 70 students of the university will be shifted to the new hostel by September 30, he added.