CUTTACK: The Hyderabad-based Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) is all set to open its regional centre for Odisha in Cuttack. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is likely to lay the foundation stone of the proposed centre at CDA Sector-13 on Wednesday.
In 2015, the Central university had decided to open its regional centre in Odisha and asked the State Government to allocate land. It had also sought fund from the University Grant Commission (UGC) to go ahead with its proposed centre at Cuttack.
Following a Cabinet decision in June 2015, the Government had allotted five acres of land on the backside of Biju Patnaik park in CDA Sector-13 to the university for its regional centre. The formal registration of the land in favour of MANUU was completed in December 2015. Work on construction of the proposed campus gained momentum after UGC sanctioned `36 crore for infrastructure of MANUU’s regional centre.
Besides promoting and developing Urdu language, the centre will help in imparting education and training in vocational and technical subjects by offering ITI and diploma courses. While each trade in the two-year ITI courses will have 60 seats, each stream of the three-year diploma will have 30 seats. The university has 17 off-campuses and regional centres across the country.
Among others, Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera, Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, Barbati-Cuttack MLA Debasis Samantaray, Vice-Chancellor of MANUU Mohammad Aslam Parvaiz, former VC and liaison-cum-nodal officer MQ Khan are scheduled to grace the occasion.