BHUBANESWAR: Days after Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan requested Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal to accord Central University status to Utkal University, educationists and former bureaucrats have urged him to consider Ravenshaw University for the tag.
If Odisha must get a second Central University, Ravenshaw University should be the first choice. Koraput has the first Central University of the State. The Union Minister, on the occasion of 78th foundation day of Utkal University, had written to the Union Education Minister seeking his intervention in granting Central University status to the premier institution.
In a letter to Pradhan, former Director General of Police Amiya Bhusan Tripathy said Ravenshaw University with its predecessor Ravenshaw College has completed more than 150 years during which it nurtured the best talents of Odisha - be it political leaders or administrators. Tripathy, a former chairman of Ravenshaw University Development Trust, said Odisha is in need of a second Central University and Ravenshaw should be the first choice by merit.
Former State election commissioner Sanjeev Hota echoed the sentiment and said the erstwhile Ravenshaw College first housed Utkal university till its present-day campus was inaugurated by the then President of India Dr S Radhakrishnan in 1963. It has a rich, glorious history of educating the who’s who of Odisha”, said Hota.
Ravenshaw College was granted university status in 2006 and former director of Higher Education department Satyakam Mishra feels it could have been accorded the Central University status back then as it fulfilled all the norms. “It was the only unitary university of Odisha which had good faculty members, 17 PG departments and excellent infrastructure. However, government chose Koraput and the CUO is struggling to fill up vacant faculty positions since its inception”, said Mishra.
As per the norms, a unitary university can qualify for Central University status and Ravenshaw fits the bill. In the past, the Centre has accorded the tag to unitary universities like JNU, Viswa Bharati and Koraput university. “Utkal, on the other hand, provides affiliation to hundreds of colleges and is in charge of their syllabus and exams”, said Mishra.